As death row inmate Matthew Poncelet (Sean Penn) nears his execution date, he calls upon Sister Helen Prejean (Susan Sarandon) to help him with one last appeal, maintaining that he is innocent of the murders of a young couple. Poncelet begins to form a bond with Prejean, and she visits both his family and the relatives of the victims, hoping to learn more about the case. As things begin to look bleak for Poncelet, Prejean does all that she can to comfort and console the hardened convict.
Had watched this movie back in the late 90s on Star Movies. Did not remember much so was wanting to re-watch it since a long time.
Good movie but its slow paced though. The movie while actually being against death penalty tries to cover all sides of the death penalty – the criminal’s as well as the victim’s families.
Sean Penn was excellent as the prisoner on death row and was deservedly nominated for an Oscar for Best Actor. Susan Sarandon won the Oscar for Best Actress for her role but did not like her acting that much. It felt like she was acting or being fake at places. Raymond J. Barry and Robert Prosky were good.
Tim Robbins was nominated for an Oscar for Best Director and the title track “Dead Man Walkin’” by Bruce Springsteen was nominated for Best Song. Like the Face of Love by Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan and Eddie Vedder more and have posted the song as Song of the Day.
Recommended
P.S. This was a comment I originally made back in July 2014.
Tags: Bruce Springsteen Dead Man Walking Eddie Vedder Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan Sean Penn Susan Sarandon Tim Robbins
