Dead Man Walking (1995)

Directed by

Tim Robbins

Genre

drama film, prison film, legal drama, crime film

Country

United States

Runtime

2h 02m

Rated

R

Rating

7.3 of 10 from 1,516 voters

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

A nun takes on the role of spiritual adviser to a death row inmate in Louisiana. She tries to help him find peace as his execution date approaches.

somberreflectiveintenseemotionalcontemplativeseriousquietbleak

What happens

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. It marked Peter Sarsgaard’s film debut. In the film, 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 condemned 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 and Penn were nominated for Best Director and Best Actor respectively. Bruce Springsteen was nominated for Best Original Song for the single "Dead Man Walkin'". (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

Trailer

More like this

• Killer: A Journal of Murder (1995)
• Dolores Claiborne (1995)
• Murder in the First (1995)
• Caged Hearts (1995)
• The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
• Reflections on a Crime (1994)
• Down Came a Blackbird (1995)
• Degree of Guilt (1995)