Both Sean Penn and Susan Sarandon give the performance of their lives. This is such an emotional film and the story behind it is amazing. Tim Robbins' direction is spot on. Was thoroughly entranced from beginning to end. Although the story deals with death row and the death penalty, both highly explosive subjects, I was able to detach myself because of the actors' performances. Strongly recommended.

This film was the supreme test to Susan Sarandon and her best achievement in her career. In this role as nun she gave a masterful class of facial expression and body language , having in mind she had the camera very close the ninety five per cent of the time. Furthermore I guess the real intention of this approach was accent the dramatis personae between these two souls so opposite in principles and ethics.

The rhythmic pulse is extremely peaceful making the film was a bit overlong with unnecessary overdramatic concessions. Sean Penn faced to my mind the most difficult role in his career and his slow and progressive transformation through the clever dialogues will reveal something you anticipate.

This delicate theme about the death execution had never focused with admirable realism. And may be with the honorable exception of In cold blood , the American Cinema never before reached such status level in this issue.

Countries, people and ideologies world over have forever debated upon the justifiability of capital punishment. Many arguments and counterarguments later an average person still forms his impression based upon some or the other personal experience. Someone who has no strong religious belief or who has not suffered -directly or indirectly- from any criminal act would arguably find herself in a dilemma to take sides.

Dead Man Walking gives the audience an unbiased insight into the social issue of capital punishment. A subtly crafted script, brilliant performances by Sean Penn and Susan Sarandon and a delicate portrayal of events that lead to the execution of Sean Penn - for a brutal double crime of raping and killing - and most compellingly, the act of execution itself - gives the audience a first-hand exposure to the trauma experienced by all involved.

It is indeed a very fine line. To kill or not to kill - that is the question. Why and who kills - is not the echoing thought you are left with. Instead you are haunted by the question - is it right to end a life regardless of who, when, why, how? Sean Penn's last words suggest otherwise. He has lived in a state of denial - not confessing and probably in his self-delusion convincing himself that he too was a victim of a bigger act of serendipity. When he breaks down in an uneventful moment and accepts his crime before Susan Sarandon, -the nun who has done everything she could to give him a fair chance - and subsequently apologizes to the parents of the victims just before his execution, the scenes of the brutal and shameless crime are brilliantly juxtaposed to the sophisticated act of execution. In those breathtaking final moments of catharsis, the audience is left with the big question - is taking a life right? Regardless of who does it.

A must watch movie that leaves us with an issue to ponder over.

This movie is about the death penalty (against it but presenting balance on both sides of the issue) and a search for what happened on that terrible day when two young people were murdered. Susan Sarandon plays Sister Helen and was awarded the Academy Award for Best Actress for her role in the movie. Sean Penn plays Matthew Poncelet on death row for murder. The film and the roles are intense, brilliant, powerful and strong.

The movie was a box office sensation in 1995-1996. The acting in the movie is excellent for the entire cast. It shows the harrowing experience of the State putting one its citizens to death. It shows the horror of Poncelet being involved in a brutal murder of two people, and the horror of the State putting him to death.

George MacPherson Reid (Woodbridge)

That's the penitent outcry of a hard-boiled criminal awaiting the chair.

No mean feat to make such a heartfelt film on a sensitive subject (capital punishment, with religious undertones) without being preachy or lopsided. I can think of several movies that have reached for similar heights (Life of David Gale, Rampage, Vigilante) but Dead Man Walking is probably the only one that pulls it off with so much sanity and compassion.

Our protagonist (Sean Penn in probably the role of his life, other than Mystic River) is on his final leg on death row for an allegedly racially-instigated rape and murder of a young woman and her boyfriend. Sister Helen (Sarandon) is a nun called upon to console and befriend the man in hopes to evoke remorse for his dastardly act, and hence redemption according to the Catholic faith.

Doing thus, she soon becomes the viewers' eyes; we see events as she experiences them, facts revealed as she discovers them. She visits not only the callous inmate but also his victims' families. Interacting with them takes her into their world, which she finds is seething with anger.

We understand this of course given the gravity of the crime, but this is where the script excels, it's not a strident, single-minded indictment of a murderer. The raped girl's family are a loving folk yet viciously spiteful of the rapist, with a near-maniacal thirst for revenge. At one point, the father shrieks, "I could kill the beast with my own bare hands." Lines blur here about who the "beast" is.

Sarandon and Penn won their deserved accolades but the true winner here is the story for showing us the harrowing realities of executions. The dialogue is subtly witty and has interesting takes on big issues. At one stage, a prison guard says to a nun, "You know what the bible says, an eye for an eye". The nun says, " You know what else the Bible ask for death as a punishment? For adultery, prostitution, homosexuality, trespass upon sacred grounds, profane in a sabbath and contempt to parents." An educated nun with an open mind. Truly refreshing.

The film is unequivocal in its position on the death penalty (against it), but never forces it. Pro-death penalty folks will hardly change their mind after this film, but it won't drive them screaming from the theater either. It may not be for everyone, but it has its heart and head in the right place.

Very, very moving, thought-provoking stuff. A copy of this DVD belongs in every sensible library.