The Life of David Gale (2003)

A man against capital punishment is accused of murdering a fellow activist and is sent to death row.

Director:

Alan Parker

Writer:

Charles Randolph

Stars:

Kate Winslet, Cleo King, Kevin Spacey

2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Kate Winslet	...	Bitsey Bloom
Cleo King	...	Barbara Kreuster
Constance Jones	...	Reporter A.J. Roberts
Kevin Spacey	...	David Gale
Laura Linney	...	Constance Harraway
Lee Ritchey	...	Joe Mullarkey
Gabriel Mann	...	Zack Stemmons
Matt Craven	...	Dusty Wright
Brandy Little	...	Motel Waitress
Cindy Waite	...	Margie
Jim Beaver	...	Duke Grover
Leon Rippy	...	Braxton Belyeu
Jesse De Luna	...	Supervising Guard
Vernon Grote	...	Door Guard
Rhona Mitra	...	Berlin

Storyline

Dr. David Gale, an advocate of eliminating the death penalty, is accused of rape and murder. Once convicted, he ends up on death row in Texas himself, telling his story to a reporter through a series of flashbacks.

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Plot Keywords:

death | death row | murder | capital punishment | texas | 

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Taglines:

The crime is clear. The truth is not.

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Genres:

Drama | Crime | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for violent images, nudity, language and sexuality

Details

Official Sites:

Universal

Country:

USA Germany UK

Language:

English Spanish

Release Date:

21 February 2003 (USA)

Also Known As:

Das Leben des David Gale

Filming Locations:

Austin Studios - 1901 E. 51st Street, Austin, Texas, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$50,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$252,944 (Spain) (6 June 2003)

Gross:

$205,747 (South Africa) (13 June 2003)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Universal Pictures, Intermedia Films, Dirty Hands Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

130 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Matt Craven did his own driving for the chase scene.

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Goofs

Towards the end of the film, Sharon Gale, David's wife, receives the silver suitcase with the post card from Berlin in it. The postcard was mailed from San Francisco to Texas but has no postmark on it in the upper right hand corner as it should.

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Quotes

David Gale: We spend our whole life trying to stop death. Eating, inventing, loving, praying, fighting, killing. But what do we really know about death? Just that nobody comes back. Then there comes a point - a moment - in life when your mind outlives its desires, its obsessions, when your habits survive your dreams, and when your losses... Maybe death is a gift. You wonder. All I can tell you is that by this time tomorrow I'll be dead. I know when. I just cannot say why. You have 24 hours to find out.

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Connections

Features Wagon Train (1957)

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Soundtracks

"Tiemblo"
(A.T. Molina Remix) (1999)
Written by Elvis Crespo
Performed by Elvis Crespo
Courtesy of Sony Discos, Inc.
Under License from Sony Discos, Inc.
By Arrangement with Sony Music Licensing

User Reviews

An extremely thought provoking movie

Kevin Spacey stars as David Gale, a life long campaigner against the death penalty finds himself on death row after being found guilty of the rape and murder of a fellow anti-execution campaigner. Kate Winslet is the reporter who interviews Gale during his last three days and she is convinced of his guilt and need to be executed, but as she interviews Gale she begins to question his guilt.

This was a great story very well told without deteriorating into a 'execution is wrong' lecture. And as usual, Kevin Spacey's performance is fantastic. Because of the twists and the amount of after-thought it provoked, I give 'The Life of David Gale' 8/10.