Dead Man Walking: Critic Reviews

Penn gives an astonishing performance and delivers exactly what Dead Man Walking needs.

is the finest, least compromised film about capital punishment ever advancing a gently stated 'anti' view but going the extra 100 miles to give victims their due.

An intelligent, balanced, devastating movie.

An extremely affecting experience

Absorbing, surprising, technically superb and worth talking about for a long time afterward

It will send you home with more than a few long thoughts.

Tim Robbins's balanced yet uncompromising approach refuses to judge any of the characters, including the killer (superlatively played by Sean Penn), instead giving each a fair chance to present their case with dignity and respect.

Don't go unadvised, and don't plan anything too frivolous for right afterwards. But do go.

Sarandon, who won the Oscar for Best Actress for this role, is superb, but Penn is extraordinary.

A thought-provoking drama not to be missed or dismissed.

Robbins, who also wrote the script, is no Truman Capote, let alone a Victor Hugo, and his film trips up constantly on indecisiveness about what it is he's trying to say.

Robbins and Susan Sarandon, have crafted a film that transcends its own political message by a scrupulous attention to detail.

A daring stand and a daring, uncompromised film.

Dead Man Walking could easily be manipulative or exploitative, but it's neither. Instead, this is hard-hitting drama that neither accepts nor offers quarter.

Its final moments leave us awash in emotion.

Takes us along on the reluctant, difficult, essentially spiritual journey these two unlikely people make together.

To say that the movie is neither for nor against capital punishment is disingenuous. Still, this is a fine and painful effort overall.

Dead Man Walking is one courageous film, one of the very best of its time.

The movie is neither indulgent in its portrayal of emotionally-charged subject matter, nor does it shy away from the consequences of murder.

Penn proves once again that he should stop writing and directing and stick to what he does best.

Dead Man Walking was worth the river of tears I waded through on my way out.

It takes a truly great film to be so passionate about its viewpoint while still acknowledging and dignifying those who feel differently.