I've only just seen the film recently. I'm a huge fan of Sean Penn and I'm so disappointed I waited so long to watch this! Susan Sarandon plays a Sister nun who helps Sean Penn's Character before he gets killed by lethal injection. She is very empathetic and forgiving to him and tries to get him to admit what he done and ask the murdered victims families for forgiveness. In the film she is met with criticism from her own family and the victims families because of her close bond with Matthew Poncelet. However she tries to be there for both sides, him and their families because she isn't taking sides, she just wants to bring god and healing to them all.

Dead Man Walking is not a one-sided political propaganda picture. It could have been a movie made to confirm the political biases of its viewers, but instead it is a nuanced view of a nuanced issue.The film follows the true-to-life events of death row inmate Matthew Poncelet (Sean Penn) and Sister Helen Prejean (Susan Sarandon), a nun who responds to his letters. Sister Prejean follows Poncelet through his appeals process and his final days, learning all about his case and meeting a number of other involved parties, including the parents of Poncelet's two teenage victims.If a viewer comes into the movie strongly against the death penalty, they will see a movie that shows a flawed, but altogether good and apologetic man be killed by his country. If a viewer comes in against the death penalty, they will see a movie in which a killer causes irreparable harm and pays the price. Robbins does a great job juxtaposing two reasonable characters against each other. On the anti-death penalty side, Prejean is easy to attach to: she is caring and a believer in forgiveness. On the pro-death penalty side, a viewer can easily sympathize with the pain that the parents of the victims feel after their kids were killed for no good reason.The performances by the cast are phenomenal, and Robbins knows how to put the actors in emotional, personal settings in which their talent can go on full display. I am confident that I have never seen Sean Penn give a more powerful performance (even though he has two Academy Awards).If I have a criticism of the film, it lies in the score. The movie is loaded with bubbly, acoustic tunes that do not fit the dark subject matter. David Robbins, brother of Tim Robbins, is credited with the music in the film, and one has to believe that nepotism was a factor in how he got the job. This is probably a nitpick of a very good movie, but it does detract from the experience.Dead Man Walking is certainly worth a watch, as it is a balanced view of a complex issue that is bolstered by impressive acting.

An emotional trial is "Dead Man Walking", the 1995 film currently available on NetFlix Instant Download Streaming. It was produced by Tim Robbins, and it was written and directed by Tim Robbins. It is based on the book by Helen Prejean. Much of the story is reflective of the 1958 classic with Rita Hayward, "I Want To Live". The actors include Susan Sarandon, Sean Penn, Robert Prosky Raymond J. Barry, R. Lee Emey, Celia Weston, Lois Smith, Scott Wilson, Roberta Maxwell, Margo Martindale, Barton Heyman, Steve Boles, Nesbitt Blaisdell and Ray Aranha. The story is that of the final days on death row for an inmate, Mathew Poncelet, played by Sean Penn. Susan Sarandon plays Sister Helen Prejean who consoles Poncelet during his final days and hours. I gave it 7 stars. Dale Haufrect

This is an excellent film, expertly acted and directed. So, then, why just a 7? There were critical scenes when Susan Sarandon's character, Sister Helen Prejean, did not stand up for what she believed in, nay, devoted her life to. This I found literally incredible, as law officers and family members of those murdered questioned, derided, isolated and rebuked Sister Helen. What I found so strange was that she had no answer to their hatred and hostility, and responded in a secular, if kind, way.I am not even a Christian, but in this film, Prejean could have made a powerful statement for the unconditional compassion as offered and described by Jesus Christ. Instead, she sat, staring. While I do believe it is true that real spirituality is in acts and not in words, there were critical junctures in the film where this position needed to be verbalized. It wasn't.I don't know what the reason was, for the somewhat remarkable departure from the norm, by casting nuns that do not wear habits, but it seems evident that the writer wanted to allay convention. Nuns without habits I can imagine: I'm sure it's done. Nuns without a strong awareness of and ability to defend the words and precepts of Jesus Christ, I can not.It also seems evident that the writer and director wanted to create a marked divide between the sanctimonious, condemnative character of Chaplain Farley (played by Scott Wilson) and the honest caring of Sister Prejean, but the secularism was brought to such an extreme that it sometimes seemed that Prejean did not know what, exactly, she did believe.Another lesser sin of this film is that the subject of innocence or guilt is hardly ever mentioned. I was consistently wondering why no one was trying to take a harder look at the case.In summary, it was not necessary for the film to devolve into "preachiness", but the case for revenge and hatred was given much more air time than the case for compassion and humanity. For the film to achieve a "higher level" of believability, those two latter qualities needed to be couched in the rebellious and visionary words and actions of Jesus Christ. A great opportunity was missed.