Delta Films Movie Reviews
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Death Sentence
Review - " Death Sentence " (on DVD) - By Ken Ellis
"Death Sentence" , A 20th Century Fox release, Directed by James Wan. Screenplay by Ian Mackenzie Jeffers (based on the novel by
Brian Garfield). Starrring Kevin Bacon, Garrett Hedlund, Kelly Preston, Aisha Tyler and John Goodman.
As the old saying goes, the road to hell is paved with good intentions. While "Death Sentence" didn't exactly cause a demonic Big Dig
(isn't the real one demonic enough?), it probably did resurface a mile or two. The good intention being to tell a story that illustrates the
futility of revenge. That is a good idea, particularly when you support the idea with a capable staff that includes director James Wan
("Saw"), Kevin Bacon and Kelly Preston. Where it goes wrong is in the execution (no pun intended) of the story. Not having read the
novel, perhaps I am at a disadvantage, but I do know what I see. What I saw was talented, capable actors languishing a predictable story
that became more and more disjointed with each passing scene.
The story begins with a Brady Bunch-like upper middle class yuppie family. Nick Hume (Bacon), a successful business executive, is
returning home from a hockey game with his oldest of two sons when the trouble begins, in more ways than one. A gang initiation killing
being masked as a gas station robbery leaves the young man wounded and dying. During this scene, Nick is shown chatting on a
cellphone one minute, panicking over the attack on his son the next. Does he think to use his cellphone to call for police or medical help?
No, strangely enough. Later, after finding nothing but frustration from the court system, he decides to pursue a course of revenge and go
after his son's killer. However, the killer is the brother of the gang leader Billy Darley (Garrett Hedlund) and after Nick kills the killer, he
finds the entire gang in hot pursuit with revenge of their own in mind. There is a scene in which the gang chases Nick around the city
(where, apparently there are no cops despite shots being fired on the streets) and traps him in a parking garage. To find out exactly
where he is, they break up and begin searching different garage levels. When Nick gets the drop on one gang member, he fires three
shots at Nick. Do the other gang members come running? No, they stay on the garage level they were.
This film is loaded which such incongruities. What starts off as an intelligent approach rapidly devolves into a satire of its original
intentions. There were some attempts at message building, with the contrast between upper class Nick and his relationship with his son
against Billy and his relationship with his brother and father. Some of the action scenes were also well done. Bacon also has some great
moments, but all of these are few and far between. Most of the best parts of this film are in the beginning; perhaps some good advice
would be to watch the first 45 minutes and then shut it off. By then, you've already seen the best and the rest will progress exactly how
you probably expect it to.
4.9 out of a possible 10
"Death Sentence" , A 20th Century Fox release, Directed by James Wan. Screenplay by Ian Mackenzie Jeffers (based on the novel by
Brian Garfield). Starrring Kevin Bacon, Garrett Hedlund, Kelly Preston, Aisha Tyler and John Goodman.
As the old saying goes, the road to hell is paved with good intentions. While "Death Sentence" didn't exactly cause a demonic Big Dig
(isn't the real one demonic enough?), it probably did resurface a mile or two. The good intention being to tell a story that illustrates the
futility of revenge. That is a good idea, particularly when you support the idea with a capable staff that includes director James Wan
("Saw"), Kevin Bacon and Kelly Preston. Where it goes wrong is in the execution (no pun intended) of the story. Not having read the
novel, perhaps I am at a disadvantage, but I do know what I see. What I saw was talented, capable actors languishing a predictable story
that became more and more disjointed with each passing scene.
The story begins with a Brady Bunch-like upper middle class yuppie family. Nick Hume (Bacon), a successful business executive, is
returning home from a hockey game with his oldest of two sons when the trouble begins, in more ways than one. A gang initiation killing
being masked as a gas station robbery leaves the young man wounded and dying. During this scene, Nick is shown chatting on a
cellphone one minute, panicking over the attack on his son the next. Does he think to use his cellphone to call for police or medical help?
No, strangely enough. Later, after finding nothing but frustration from the court system, he decides to pursue a course of revenge and go
after his son's killer. However, the killer is the brother of the gang leader Billy Darley (Garrett Hedlund) and after Nick kills the killer, he
finds the entire gang in hot pursuit with revenge of their own in mind. There is a scene in which the gang chases Nick around the city
(where, apparently there are no cops despite shots being fired on the streets) and traps him in a parking garage. To find out exactly
where he is, they break up and begin searching different garage levels. When Nick gets the drop on one gang member, he fires three
shots at Nick. Do the other gang members come running? No, they stay on the garage level they were.
This film is loaded which such incongruities. What starts off as an intelligent approach rapidly devolves into a satire of its original
intentions. There were some attempts at message building, with the contrast between upper class Nick and his relationship with his son
against Billy and his relationship with his brother and father. Some of the action scenes were also well done. Bacon also has some great
moments, but all of these are few and far between. Most of the best parts of this film are in the beginning; perhaps some good advice
would be to watch the first 45 minutes and then shut it off. By then, you've already seen the best and the rest will progress exactly how
you probably expect it to.
4.9 out of a possible 10
January 11, 2008