Matthew Poncelot has been on death row in Louisiana six years for killing a teenage couple. He approaches Sister Helen as the date of his execution looms to help him with his appeal. She assumes that he will come across as arrogant and cocky, but instead pleads his innocence saying that a man called Vitello did the murders. Sister Helen has faith in Matthew and gets a lawyer to take on his case for free. She develops a deep relationship with Matthew and on a wider scale with his family, as she champions Matthew's cause for life imprisonment rather than execution. The victims' families are not impressed by this. Her crusade is crushed and Matthew asks her to be his spiritual advisor on his final day. He makes a confession that he killed the boy and raped the girl after Sister Helen tells him he must be truthful in order to be redeemed. Just before he is executed, he confesses all to the families and says that he hopes his death will bring them peace. He is executed and then buried. Thank goodness, given his well known left wing political beliefs, Tim Robbins did not use the film as a soap box for his own agenda. The film is, instead, subtle and nuanced. Pro capital punishment viewers will not be offended, and neither will anti capital punishment folk. The film is a detailed study of both sides of the argument - showing Matthew's ultimate confession that he was guilty of the crimes and the devastation of the families whose lives his murderous actions have impacted on so dreadfully. Both Susan Sarandon and Sean Penn give amazing performances. Sarandon's Sister Helen shows compassion for Matthew even whenever he reveals himself to be the killer. He let her be led on by him feigning innocence and then he practically takes a dump in her mouth by his confession of guilt. But she still has compassion for him no matter what he has done or said. Sarandon deserved the Oscar for Best Actress.
My first film watched was Carrie aged 2 on my dad's knee. Educated at The University of St Andrews and Trinity College Dublin. Fan of Arthouse, Exploitation, Horror, Euro Trash, Giallo, New French Extremism. Weaned at the bosom of a Russ Meyer starlet. The bleaker, artier or sleazier the better!
