Enter Bitsey Bloom (Kate Winslet, having trouble swallowing her natural English accent), a magazine reporter sent to cover the Gale execution. As she begins interviewing Gale, and allowing him to recount his downward spiral toward his current situation, she realizes that Gale just might not be guilty of his crime, and sets out to uncover what really happened. In the tradition of "Dead Man Walking, "Last Dance" and Clint Eastwood's "True Crime," comes another death row thriller, with even loftier political ambitions than those pictures. Alan Parker's "The Life of David Gale" ( IMDb listing) is equal parts investigative thriller and political sermon on the evils of capital punishment, with the former working almost flawlessly, and the latter belly flopping into a sea of embarrassment. This narrative terrain is hackneyed, and "David Gale" doesn't bring anything new to the genre. It is only in the energy of the story, and its surprisingly ambiguous characterizations, that the film can find success.
As Gale begins to recall his turbulent past, Parker has no trouble setting up the palpable tension in Gale's life, complete with unseemly sexual escapades, and his descent into alcoholism. Gale is set up as an unbridled liberal, holding so steadfastly to ideals of justice and the abolishment of cruel and usual punishment that, honestly, it makes him an easy target.
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