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The film stars several fine actors. Kevin Spacey is ex-Professor David Gale. He's in Texas' death row, awaiting execution for the rape and murder of his best friend, Constance Harraway (Laura Linney). After nine years of failed appeals and less than a week before Gale's scheduled lethal injection, he instructs his lawyer, Braxton Belyeu (Leon Rippy), to contact a news magazine to sell for a half million dollars the rights to Gale's exclusive interview. Gale stipulates that he's to be interviewed alone by award winning journalist Bitsy Bloom (Kate Winslet).

Her instinct is that the man is guilty, but the offer arrives only five days before his execution date - they'll have only three two-hour sessions during three consecutive days - and she's intrigued. Her pre-interview research does not prepare her for what she finds. The circumstances that led Gale to the death house are told in flashbacks as he relates his history to her during three afternoons.

He was highly regarded professor of philosophy at a large Austin university. And he was an avid death-penalty abolitionist, as was his friend, Constance. But his wife was having an extended affair with another man and this may have led Gale to drink too much. Drunk at a party, he allowed himself to be seduced by a bitter student, recently expelled. The next day, she falsely accused him of rape, then left the state without pursuing the charge. The stigma of the unresolved accusation took a heavy toll. He lost his position at the university and became unemployable. His wife sued for divorce and took his beloved young son to Spain. He spiraled downward into alcohol and despair. When Constance was found dead on the floor of her kitchen - nude, handcuffed, and with a plastic bag covering her head and taped around her neck - the police investigators discover one of Gale's fingerprints on the bag. An autopsy revealed his semen within her and the handcuff key in her stomach. He was convicted and sentenced to death.

As Bloom listens to his tale, she becomes more sympathetic. Odd circumstances convince her that Gale may have been framed. She's been followed by a faceless stranger in a pickup. Someone had broken into her motel room to leave a videotape of Constance suffocating on the floor. Bloom pursues the truth in the hope of saving an innocent man, but Gale has no illusions. As the third and last interview ends he explains that he doesn't expect her to save his life, he expects her to save his good name for the sake of his son.

I have revealed little here; most of what I've described may be gleaned from the theatrical trailer. This film may have a political message, but it is foremost a murder mystery. Is the mysterious stranger the true killer? Is there a conspiracy? After years of appeals, why did Gale wait until the last minute to seek the help? And why a writer? The answers are logical and consistent within the premise of the film. Unfortunately, as compelling as the storyline may be, the film ultimately fails. The film opens with Bloom's rental car overheating at what we will learn somewhat later to be a critical time. This may add a note of high drama, but we're expected to believe that this bright reporter wasn't clever enough to have exchanged her rental during the previous four days of ample time and dashboard warnings. But more seriously is the failure of logic within the underlying story, not revealed until the end of the last act of the film. Much earlier, during a televised debate over capital punishment between the governor of Texas and Gale, the abolitionist was unable to respond to a critical question. As the film draws to an end, we discover that the answer has been provided. But that answer is corrupt, and does harm to the abolitionist movement rather than bolster its cause.

Video: How Does The Disc Look?

The film's theatrical aspect ratio of 2.35:1 is presented in anamorphic video. Call me superstitious if you will, but I knew that if I continued to write about what appeared to be a welcome trend in the banishment of edge halos, they would return with a vengeance. And indeed they have. For all high contrast video transitions, this Universal release suffers from halos of low amplitude (the contrast of the halo is low) and low bandwidth (the halos have significant width). This imparts a general messy appearance to the images. To make things a tad worse, the images are consistently soft. Fine textures and small object detail are suppressed. On the plus side, color accuracy based on flesh tones is fine. I noticed no chroma noise or smearing. Mosquito noise and blocking seem to be absent. And shadow detail is quite good. But the overall impression is simply mediocre.

Audio: How Does The Disc Sound?

The Dolby Digital 5.1 track is dominated overwhelmingly by the front channels; the surround channels were audible only on rare occasions. Neither exceptionally deep bass nor shimmering highs are apparent. The eclectic score written by the director's sons, Alex and Jake Parker, is a disconcerting mix of orchestral, rock, spiritual, and classical; it sounds slightly compressed and lacks transparency. Sound effects serve the onscreen activities and did not draw attention to themselves. The dialog, the most important element in this show, remains crystal clear throughout, without a hint of lossy compression raspiness.

The alternative languages are in French and Spanish, also presented in Dolby Digital 5.1. The subtitles are in French, Spanish, and English.

Supplements: What Goodies Are There?

Universal has been generous with the extras for this DVD. First is a director's commentary by Alan Parker. He talks with great fondness and respect for his players and touches upon their being brought into the show. He also mentions how he came to be involved. The politics of the death penalty play into this monolog, but for the most part, he concentrates on the process of filming. We learn that Linney's participation was during the first half of the shooting schedule and Winslet's was during the second; this required Winslet to be able to react emotionally to events that she could only imagine, since she hadn't participated in their filming. We learn about locations and something of the Texas penal system. This is an above average commentary, devoid of plot narration and avoiding the obvious.

There are several short featurettes; one relates to the issue and the rest to the film. The dominant point made in Death In Texas (9:09) is that there are more executions in that state than any other. Since there is a fair correlation between a state's general population and the population of its death row (California leads the nation in both populations, followed by Texas, which is second in both populations), I find this argument less than compelling. A better argument and a clearer overview of the issues may be found in a DVD- ROM text feature.

The Making of The Life of David Gale (16:56) and The Music of The Life of David Gale (4:50) are casual glimpses behind the scenes. In the first, we learn about casting and the history of the screenplay. Better than fluff, it's a sincere effort to impart a little background information without duplicating the director's commentary. The second piece is a bit of nepotism. The director decided to hire his sons to score the film and this little featurette describes the relationships and musical goals.

There are several deleted scenes that may be played individually or sequentially, with or without director's commentary. None contribute anything of particular interest to the story, and are best off omitted from the theatrical cut. Next is the simple Poster Concepts, a page that allows you to select from one of three posters for a closer look. The film's theatrical trailer (2:32) is shown in non-anamorphic widescreen. The Life of David Gale Soundtrack (0:33) is a promo for the film's CD. Cast and Crew offers professional biographies and filmographies for seven of the players and six of the filmmakers (including the director's sons - they are very well represented on this DVD). Finally, Recommendations offers five DVD covers for films that Universal thinks you might enjoy.

The 131-minute feature is organized into twenty chapters

DVD-ROM Exclusives: What do you get when you pop the disc in your PC?

After the Inter actual player loads the Universal skin, you'll have a couple of choices. The first is a thoughtful essay by director Alan Parker on capital punishment; it's called “The Death Penalty: The Political Argument.” It's evenhanded, offering references to web sites that are for and against the death penalty. He examines the religious and social pressures for the penalty, and makes apt comparisons between the United States, Europe, and several totalitarian governments. Some legal arguments are also examined. It's a pity that his message, so clearly stated here, was lost in the labyrinth of viewer manipulation in his film. The second choice is to click on the Universal logo; this takes you to the Universal Pictures website, featuring the latest theatrical releases and DVDs, and links to other Universal ventures, like the theme parks and television.

Parting Thoughts