Dead Man Walking Review by Beth Ann Griese

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Starring	Susan Sarandon, Sean Penn
Director	Tim Robbins
Year	1995
What it's worth		Full price (See this movie at whatever cost!)

Sister Helen is not used to social work for convicts. Her first visit to meet Matthew Poncelet (Sean Penn) is obviously her first time near a prison. But through coincidence, she has exchanged letters with him, been invited to visit, and has the compassion and strength of character to follow through with meeting him, then talking with him, then daring to try to help him.

Tim Robbins and Susan Sarandon are one of the better-known couples in Hollywood, and one of the things they are not known for is reluctance to express their opinions. So I went to Dead Man Walking worried that I'd be seeing a pretty heavy sermon about whatever they may feel about the death penalty, and not a very accurate portrayal of Christianity or even Catholicism. This movie lived up to neither of those concerns.

For two hours, this film carefully considers all the turbulent issues and emotions surrounding the death penalty. We suffer with the family of the victims, with Poncelet, with his family, and most of all, with Sister Helen, as she gets caught in the crossfire between them all. We see the mental torture of a man about to die intercut with the horrible crime he has committed and its effects on everyone around him, right down to the guards in the prison who have to take him to his death. It does justice to a horribly complex problem and refuses to trivialize any part of it.

Sister Helen is the first real Christian character I've seen in a major film in years. She is not a caricature, someone painted with intolerant, broad strokes who parrots religious-sounding phrases that mean nothing. She also doesn't fall into the trap of being a supposedly "religious" person who nonetheless never actually talks about religion or her beliefs. Sister Helen, instead, is a woman with firm faith and strong beliefs, who is trying desperately to do nothing more than follow the example of Jesus and help a man regardless of his past and his deeds, and to offer compassion to the families he has affected.

Another pleasant surprise is the nature of the help she offers. She does not spout pat speeches that instantly heal lives. She refuses to help Poncelet brush off what he has done and blame his fate on the forces around him. Her tough attempts to get the convict and the families to come to terms with what has happened, face responsibility where it is due, and move forward, is an amazing thing for a movie to tackle in this age of seven-steps-to-total-happiness.

This movie is not one to see when you're hoping for a pick-me-up. It's tough to watch, even though it's not depressing. In the midst of horrible pain and unthinkable crimes are moments of genuine kindness, love, and even humor. Instead of dragging us down with the weight of its subject, the movie is challenging, and makes us confront unpleasant topics without blinking. I had mixed feelings about the death penalty before I went into this movie, and I still do now, but Dead Man Walking has given me a lot more to consider about it, and told a remarkable story in the process. It's a movie that can't be forgotten easily, and is made extraordinarily well.

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