‘Dead Men’ Good, But Not Oscar Good

“Dead Man Walking,” a death-row drama directed by Tim Robbins, was rumored to be a top Oscar contender. And last week, the rumors came true. Sean Penn and Susan Sarandon were nominated for their awe-inspiring performances as was Robbins for his direction. While some might complain that those three honors should add up to a nomination for Best Picture, I disagree. “Dead Man Walking” is not quite Best Picture material.

The movie is based on a book of the same name by Sister Helen Prejean (played by Sarandon in the movie). Sister Helen, a Southern nun, becomes the spiritual adviser of a condemned man named Matthew Poncelet (Penn). Poncelet has been convicted of killing a teenage couple with the help of an accomplice.

Poncelet claims his partner did the killings; the partner claims Poncelet is the guilty one. Poncelet had a public defender and ended up on death row.

Sister Helen is somewhat wary of Poncelet at first; she keeps her distance but finds him a good appeals lawyer. Throughout the movie, Sister Helen will make every attempt to get Poncelet off the hook, but these efforts are obviously futile. Poncelet is known as a callous killer and seen as subhuman.

When Sister Helen agrees to become Poncelet’s spiritual adviser, his last appeal has been denied and the movie’s real drama begins. Her job is to save his soul in the few days remaining before his execution, but Sister Helen seems more interested in being his friend and doing what she can for him.

At the same time Sister Helen is delving into Poncelet’s humanity, she meets the families of his victims.

As the execution looms ever closer, the movie moves toward its highly emotional climax. By the time he dies, Poncelet has been stripped of his denial and his cool, and all that remains is a little boy. Sister Helen becomes a heroic figure because her courage and care redeemed Poncelet and exposes the truth of the death penalty. It is killing, as heinous as the crime committed by the ones it kills.

This movie drives home the simple point that compassion is right and killing of any kind is wrong. But the movie’s great irony is that if Poncelet had not had to die, he never would have been saved.

Penn and Sarandon portray the love between Poncelet and Prejean in such a way that their emotions at the time of the execution seem achingly real and raw. People have said the words “I love you” in movies a thousand times, but when these two say it, it brings tears to the viewers’ eyes. Their performances make the movie.

My only complaint with “Dead Man Walking” is that it left one important loose end. What made Poncelet play the part he played in the killings? The movie seems to say it was simply peer pressure, which is not believable. An answer to this question could have given “Dead Man Walking” the complexity it needed to move it through certain parts of the film.

If “Dead Man Walking” accomplishes nothing else, it will certainly make the audience think about the death penalty. No matter the conclusion one comes to, it is hard to deny that “Dead Man Walking” explores new ground by showing the humanity of a killer.

Grade: A-