Dead Man Walking is a 1995 American crime drama film starring Susan Sarandon and Sean Penn, and co-produced and directed by Tim Robbins, who adapted the screenplay from the 1993 non-fiction book of the same name.
Sister Helen Prejean (Sarandon) establishes a special relationship with Matthew Poncelet (Penn), a character based on convicted murderers Elmo Patrick Sonnier and Robert Lee Willie. He is a prisoner on death row in Louisiana, and she visits him as his spiritual adviser after corresponding with him.
The film was a critical and commercial success; it grossed $83 million on a budget of $11 million and received praise for the performances of Penn and Sarandon, as well as Robbins' direction. Sarandon's performance won her the Academy Award for Best Actress, while Robbins, Penn and Bruce Springsteen were nominated for Best Director, Best Actor and Best Original Song, respectively, for the single "Dead Man Walkin'".
Plot[edit][]
Matthew Poncelet has been in prison for six years, awaiting execution after being convicted and sentenced to death for killing a teenage couple. Poncelet, held in the Louisiana State Penitentiary, committed the crimes with Carl Vitello, a man who was sentenced to life imprisonment. As the day of his execution comes closer, Poncelet asks Sister Helen Prejean, with whom he has corresponded, to help him with a final appeal.
She decides to visit him. He is arrogant, sexist, and racist and does not even pretend to feel remorse. He affirms his innocence and insists Vitello killed the two teenagers. Convincing an experienced attorney to take on Poncelet's case pro bono, Sister Helen tries to have his sentence commuted to life imprisonment. After many visits, she establishes a relationship with him. At the same time, she gets to know Poncelet's mother, Lucille, and the families of the two victims. The families do not understand Sister Helen's efforts to help Poncelet and claim that she is "taking his side." Instead they desire "absolute justice," his life for the lives of their children.
Sister Helen's application for a pardon is declined. Poncelet asks Sister Helen to be his spiritual adviser through his execution, and she agrees. Sister Helen tells Poncelet that his redemption is possible only if he takes responsibility for what he did. Just before he is taken from his cell, Poncelet tearfully admits to Sister Helen that he had killed the boy and raped the girl. As he is prepared for execution, he appeals to the boy's father for forgiveness and tells the girl's parents that he hopes his death brings them peace. Poncelet is executed by lethal injection and given a proper burial. The murdered boy's father attends the funeral ceremony; although he is still filled with hate, he soon begins to pray with Sister Helen.
Cast[]
- Susan Sarandon as Sister Helen Prejean
- Sean Penn as Matthew Poncelet
- Robert Prosky as Hilton Barber
- Raymond J. Barry as Earl Delacroix
- R. Lee Ermey as Clyde Percy
- Celia Weston as Mary Beth Percy
- Lois Smith as Augusta Bourg Prejean
- Scott Wilson as Chaplain Farlely
- Roberta Maxwell as Lucille Poncelet
- Margo Martindale as Sister Colleen
- Kevin Cooney as Governor Benedict
- Clancy Brown as State Trooper
- Michael Cullen as Carl Vitello
- Peter Sarsgaard as Walter Delacroix
- Missy Yager as Hope Percy
- Jack Black as Craig Poncelet
- Barton Heyman as Captain Beliveau
- Nesbitt Blaisdell as Warden Hartman
- Steve Boles as Sgt. Neal Trapp
Soundtrack[]
Dead Man Walking is a soundtrack album to the film of the same name, released in 1996 on Columbia Records. The album contains twelve tracks by major artists, including a title track by Bruce Springsteen, which was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Song but lost to "Colors of the Wind" from the Walt Disney film Pocahontas.
Overview[]
The album is a collection of music thematically linked to the 1995 film Dead Man Walking. Although all the songs were inspired by the storyline, only four of them were featured in their entirety in the movie. A separate album of the film's instrumental score, composed by David Robbins, was released by Columbia Records in April 1996.
The film's executive producers, brothers Tim and David Robbins, personally solicited a number of their favorite musicians for contributions to the project. "We contacted artists we particularly admired," said David. The contributors were provided with scripts, rough cuts, and other materials to help inspire their work. Many of the resulting pieces have lyrical content based on particular characters – Suzanne Vega wrote her song from the perspective of the nun, Sister Helen Prejean; Steve Earle took the point of view of a prison guard; and Bruce Springsteen, in the film's title track, spoke as the convict himself.
Critical reception[]
Springsteen performed his song "Dead Man Walkin'" at the 68th Academy Awards, where it was nominated for Best Original Song.= In a review for the album's tenth anniversary, critic Stephen Thomas Erlewine called it "one of those rare soundtracks that is as compelling as the film itself".
Reception[]
Critical response[edit][]
The film was well received by critics. Rotten Tomatoes gives it a 95% positive rating based on reviews from 61 critics, with an average rating of 8.24/10. The site's consensus states: "A powerful, thought-provoking film that covers different angles of its topic without resorting to preaching, Dead Man Walking will cause the viewer to reflect regardless of their political viewpoint." Metacritic gives it a rating of 80/100 based on reviews from 26 critics, indicating "Generally favorable reviews."
Hal Hinson of The Washington Post commented: "What this intelligent, balanced, devastating movie puts before us is nothing less than a contest between good and evil." Kenneth Turan of the Los Angeles Times described the acting: "For this kind of straight-ahead movie to work, the acting must be strong without even a breath of theatricality, and in Penn and Sarandon, Dead Man Walking has performers capable of making that happen." Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film four stars, his highest rating, and called it "absorbing, surprising, technically superb and worth talking about for a long time afterward."
Accolades[]
At the 68th Academy Awards, Dead Man Walking was nominated in four different categories: Susan Sarandon won the Academy Award for Best Actress for her role, Sean Penn was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor, Tim Robbins was nominated for Best Director and its main track "Dead Man Walkin'" by Bruce Springsteen was nominated for Best Original Song.
At the Golden Globes, Sarandon and Penn received nominations for their acting while Robbins received one for Best Screenplay. At the 46th Berlin International Film Festival, Penn won the Silver Bear for Best Actor.
Robbins dedicated the movie to his paternal grandfather, Lee Robbins, and maternal grandmother, Thelma Bledsoe, in gratitude for his college tuition.
The real-life Sister Helen Prejean can be seen briefly in the candlelight vigil scene outside the prison protesting the death penalty with the rest of the cast.
Box office[]
Dead Man Walking debuted on December 29, 1995, in the United States. With a budget of $11 million, the film grossed $39,387,284 domestically and $43,701,011 internationally, for a total of $83,088,295 worldwide.
Other versions[]
In 2002, Tim Robbins, who adapted the book for the film, also wrote a stage version of Dead Man Walking. It has also been adapted as an opera by the same name, premiering in San Francisco.
Legacy[]
Yvonne Koslovsky-Golan, author of The Death Penalty in American Cinema: Criminality and Retribution in Hollywood Film, stated that even though public debate on the death penalty increased for a period after the release of Dead Man Walking, the film did not result in "real political or legal change" but encouraged additional academic study on the death penalty.