The Life of David Gale

Movie review by Nell Minow, Common Sense Media
The Life of David Gale Poster Image

Common Sense says

age 17+

An overripe melodrama -- a time waster.

R 2003 130 minutes
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Parents say

age 18+

Based on 1 review

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A Lot or a Little?

The parents' guide to what's in this movie.

What Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that this movie includes very mature material. There are sexual references and explicit sexual situations, including rape charges. A student offers a teacher sex for a passing grade (he declines). There is also non-sexual nudity and footage that may show a murder. Characters use strong language and one abuses alcohol, ultimately becoming an alcoholic. The movie also features suicide in what could be seen as an approving manner.

Community Reviews

Ken R.
Ken R. Adult
November 6, 2020
age 18+

The Life Of David Gale – No Life, No Movie

At the outset, this looked as if it might offer some initial entertainment but that ended very early on - following one perverse scene after another. Grotty writing combined with Alan Parker’s morose direction tried to manipulate our emotions - to prove that some people with a cause will commit almost any crime to win points their way. This certainly won’t help the anti-death penalty or Anti-Rape causes or much of any other cause - as most of the participant’s actions (on both sides) are presented as moronic, dishonest, vulgar and self-serving. This movie takes a typically ‘modern’ Hollywood approach, in all departments, and fails to connect with any real honesty or believability, instead aiming for crudeness. Performances varying from fairly good to by the numbers doesn’t help. The easily pleased will get caught up - but from the look of the box office returns, there weren’t many of those either.
See all 1 parent review

What's the Story?

This drama centers on Texas philosophy professor turned death row inmate David Gale (Kevin Spacey), who agrees to his first interview just days before he is to be executed for a brutal rape/murder. David and the murder victim, Constance (Laura Linney) had been co-leaders of a group that opposed the death penalty. He will speak to only one journalist, a reporter for a weekly news magazine named Bitsy (Kate Winslet) who herself has just been released after serving a week in prison for refusing to reveal a source. The terms of the interview are that David will be paid half a million dollars in cash and that Bitsy will see him for two hours a day on the last three days before the execution. Is the evidence against David overwhelming? Does Bitsy come to believe he is innocent? Does possibly exonerating evidence show up at almost the last minute?

Is It Any Good?

Somewhere between potboiler and polemic, THE LIFE OF DAVID GALE is an overripe melodrama that signals every one of its plot twists as ham-handedly as it bangs out its message. Does the car break down so that Bitsy has to run to the prison at the real last minute? Do people in this movie continually behave in the dopiest possible way in an unsuccessful attempt to create some suspense and conceal the "surprise" ending? Oh, yes. Does it work? Oh, no.

Spacey and Winslet give their weakest performances ever. Linney manages one brief believable moment when she is discussing Dr. Elizabeth Kubler-Ross' stages in confronting death (though she gets them in the wrong order). The best performance is by Matt Craven as another opponent of the death penalty. He has almost no lines but manages to bring a little dignity to his moments on screen.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about the death penalty. They might want to look at information on sites like Death Penalty Info and Pro Death Penalty to learn more about the current debate on that issue. Families should also talk about how David's choices relate to the lecture he gave his class. Is our greatest happiness in dreaming of future happpiness? What must we do to make our lives meaningful? How do our values inform our choices? What will David's son think about his choices?

Movie Details

Our Editors Recommend

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