The Life of David Gale (58%)

The crime is clear. The truth is not.

Quentin Tarantino recently came out and said he wanted to retire after ten movies. His reasoning behind the statement was that he didn't want to become an 'old director' who had lost his touch. Well Alan Parker, who directed The Life of David Gale, is a prime example of what he is talking about. Parker started off in the late 70's directing classics such as Midnight Express and Fame. Not every film of his to follow was a classic or a masterpiece but he continued to make good to great films and finished off in 1996 with the excellent Evita. But then he directed Angela's Ashes which was his weakest film to date. Then he followed it with The Life of David Gale which is an even weaker film and sadly the last film he has thus far made.

It is actually shocking that the same man who made Midnight Express, Fame and Mississippi Burning made this film. What a difference in quality and skill. From the outset The Life of David Gale seems like it should be a winner with a great cast, a great director and an interesting story. Unfortunately things didn't come together and the film that was released has ended up being subpar filmmaking at best.

Usually Parker has shown excellent skill in working with his actors. In this film he seems to have lost his touch. Laura Linney is great as usual, and Kevin Spacey shines at times but at other times he seems to be heavily overacting. Then their is the stunning and talented Kate Winslet. Without a doubt this has to come off as her worst performance ever. She puts on a fake American accent and seems to just go through the numbers. There are moments where her talent shines through but not enough to merit any kind of accolades for her performance here. Most of the secondary cast manages to be average to poor in the acting department with an especially bad performance by Noah Truesdale as Spacey's son.

Another aspect that Parker usually excels at but faltered on in this film is the music. Generic and cheesy for the most part, the score (minus a solid tense reoccurring theme) just doesn't work well and doesn't draw you into the film. Scored by Parker's two sons, the music is probably the weakest music ever heard in a film directed by Alan Parker.

Then there is the editing which is ok, but could use a lot of work. There is really no reason that this film needed to be over two hours long. No reason at all. Scenes could of been trimmed and shortened or cut altogether and at, maybe, an hour and forty minutes the film might of worked better than it finally did. There is nothing unique about the editing or the sets, or the costumes, or the cinematography. While the film does look good, with nice colours and clear images the shots are rather generic and there are no images that wow the audience, something that has happened in nearly every other Parker film.

But the absolute worst thing about The Life of David Gale is the screenplay. Filled with cliches and awful dialogue it seems amazing to me that actors such as Winslet and Spacey ever saw something in the script. The outcome of the film is predictable and really doesn't jive well with the morals of the film. Winslet's intern/assistant/partner is a useless character who speaks only in exposition. Why open the film in the place that they did? Did it add anything to the story? No. And then there are the ridiculously ham fisted and hockey plot points that drive the picture forward. Why break into Winslet's hotel room to leave a snippet of a videotape as a clue hanging from a lamp? How did the police not discover the videotape that could solve the whole case when it was so easy to find by Winslet?

The Life of David Gale is not the worst film ever made and I'm sure there are many people out there that will find many things to like about it. But it really isn't that good. It plays almost like a TV movie of the week on a grand scale. It's a real shame that Parker seems to have ended his career on a note like this. Knowing that he directed this film makes it that much worse of a film. There are some elements that do work and it looks good, plus the viewer is seldom bored throughout the two and a bit hours that it runs for but it's never really as engaging or as clever as the filmmakers think it is.

It's too bad that Parker seems to have finished his career with this film. Maybe after seeing the final product he realized that he has lost it as a director. Maybe he just wanted to retire. Maybe he realized somewhere within the production of the film that it just wasn't working and he gave up for good. It's sad that this is how his legacy seems to have ended but then that's what Tarantino is talking about when he says he wants to retire on a high note. He doesn't want to become like Parker and hopefully he never will.

In a word: Disappointing!!!


Film Rating: 58%

Breakdown (How The Life of David Gale scored 58%):

Production Design: 7 out of 10
Cinematography: 7 out of 10
Re-playability: 5 out of 10
Originality: 5 out of 10
Costumes:  7 out of 10
Directing: 6 out of 10
Editing: 6 out of 10
Acting: 6 out of 10
Music: 5 out of 10

Script: 4 out of 10