To my absolute astonishment, which I'm certain will be neverending in this case, I actually enjoyed the new movie Death Sentence. The reason I'm so taken aback is because this film was delivered by James Wan, one of the co-creators of the Saw series--the first Saw being a film so abominable, so grotesque, so absurd in its desire to appeal to the absolute lowest common denominator of darkness which resides within the human soul, that it disheartened me to the point that I seri-ously considered giving up on screenwriting. Trust me when I say that, I am not exaggerating or going for the shock value in the slightest. Wan was also responsible for Dead Silence, a film that didn't quite sink to the Saw level of depravity, but was instead such a laughable entry in the horror genre, I'm surprised Wan even bothered to film it.
But now comes Death Sentence--a new thriller/action piece which doesn't quite make me a believer in Wan's reputed skills, but at least makes me think he has a shot at acquiring some genuine talent at some point.
Death Sentence is based on a novel of the same name by author Brian Garfield, the originator of the Death Wish series of books and movies, the latter format which starred the late Charles Bronson. Wan's Death Sentence bares only the most passing of relations with the book however. The movie takes place in South Carolina instead of Chicago, and the main character's name and primary living situation are completely different. In this movie, Kevin Bacon plays Nick Hume, a successful vice-president of risk assessment for an insurance com-pany. He is happily married with two sons, Brendan(Stuart Lafferty) and Lucas(Jordan Garrett). Brendan, the jock who excels at pretty much everything he does, is the favored son. One night while stopp-ing in a seedier part of town for gas, Nick and Brendan are unwilling witnesses to a gang initiation when some young thugs come into the gas station, the newest member intent on meeting his clubhouse requirements by killing a random person. That random person turns out to be Brendan, who has his throat sliced with a machete while Nick can only watch helplessly.
The killer(Matt O'Leary) is apprehended and brought to court, where Nick's lawyer believes the most they can get conviction-wise is a 3-5 year term. Finding this unacceptable, Nick refuses to testify and instead chooses to bring about Old Testament justice: an eye for an eye, a life for a life. Much negative criticism has been heaped upon Kevin Bacon's performance in this film, and the truth is, such scorn is not deserved for one of the best underappreciated actors of modern cinema. Bacon's performance is right on the mark throughout, as his character sets off on a path which will lead him to areas of his soul he never considered looking at too closely. When Bacon's Nick tracks down the thug to his home, he is genuinely amazed that he is even considering taking personal revenge for what happened. Yet when he catches sight of the young tough hauling the garbage outside, Bacon's expression--that moment of internal combustion where some-thing inside says, "This person must pay for the wrong they've comm-itted"--is exactly right, and captures the moment of decision perfectly.
For the type of film Death Sentence is--one man goes up against an armed gang, carrying mainly only a belief of true justice in his heart--it is primarily a solid and most importantly, believable story. There are a few real world logic inconsistencies of course. For instance, Nick follows the thug and his friends to one of the seedier parts of South Carolina, but none of them realize there's a brand new Ford parked only about fifty feet away with someone inside watching them. First of all, such a car would never be seen in their neighbor-hood. Second, a group of street toughs like these would have devel-oped the "we're being watched" instinct, given how many times they must've been the target of police investigations and observerances.
Then again, the cops in this picture deal in a level of ineptness usually reserved only for Keystone Kops. Lead detective Wallis, played by Aisha Tyler, goes about her job with only the most casual of interest. She is at once sympathetic to Bacon's plight, yet admonishes him when she comes to believe he's the one responsible for the death of his son's killer. However, she barely performs any followup in either instance and shortly after Nick does in the killer, receiving a hand cut in the process which he must bandage, Wallis doesn't even consider asking him how he got injured, even though it's obvious she takes note of the wrapped hand. Tyler is also currently seen in the bland Balls of Fury, from which something like Death Sentence is a surpris-ing step up. Hopefully she will fare even better in her next project.
Unfortunately for Nick, his act of retribution goes horribly awry when the killer's brother Billy(Garrett Hedlund) finds out who was responsible and leads his fellow bangers in a retribution calling of their own and decide to take out Nick's entire family. It is at this point in the story that Death Sentence takes a couple of unexpected turns. First, it elevates itself among standard issuances in the genre by showing the gang members as having human feelings aside from just being snarling animals(which admittedly, they are for most of the picture, especially its last half). They miss their lost brother, and Billy is unafraid to shed tears in front of his friends...something one doesn't usually see in a film such as this. Second, once the gang decides to go after Nick's family, even with Wallis' help things don't exactly turn out as one might expect.
Once more bloodletting has occurred, Nick finally decides that he's really had enough, and sets out to wipe out the entire group. Of course he's going to need guns for that, and he seeks the aid of an underground guns dealer(John Goodman). The gun dealer's connec-tion with Billy and his friends is established early in the film, but when Goodman's character has a brief heart-to-heart talk with Nick about what's about to happen, it is a moment of poignancy dealing with the disappointment parents must deal with when their children don't turn out as they had hoped.
Death Sentence, for all its surprisingly deft handling of the materi-al, is not without some disappointments of its own. For one thing, the part of Nick's wife, played by Kelly Preston, as a character is a cipher. She truly is given nothing to do except be a supportive, devoted wife and grieve once Brendan's been killed. We never even find out if she has a career of her own, since she's stuck serving dinner every single time Nick walks in the front door. Once Nick is hospitalized in the attack on his family, he manages to escape from under the noses of Wallis, a doctor and at least four other cops by slipping out a window! Keep in mind that because he's been shot, Nick must be doped up six ways to Sunday, he has to make his getaway in the pouring rain wear-ing nothing but a hospital gown, and then what does he do--? He goes straight home and no one thinks to look for him there! He sets up shop in his backyard tool shack and begins learning how to load, aim and fire the guns he's purchased...and still not one cop comes knocking!
It was at this point that I had almost given up hope that director Wan had managed to slip off his shackles of ineptness. But then I realized that while most of the Laws of Reason weren't being observ-ed there was one real life situation playing out which again, is not generally seen in a film of this nature: Nick was taking the time to learn how to use his guns. In most vigilante films, once a person has been wronged, they spend a short amount of time grieving or feeling fearful, and then right away it's time to buy some guns and blow the holy hell out of their offender, no lessons required. Death Sentence does the audience a service by showing Nick as having to learn how to become a blood-seeking badass, and realizing that it doesn't just happen naturally.
Of course, there is the climactic shootout, some of which is absol-utely as over the top as it gets. I did laugh at one point, and wasn't sure whether I should've, but it was a scene that was stupid fun by any measure. The ending of the film, the final showdown between Nick and Billy, is also a genuine surprise in its own right but it is satisfying. I have to be honest here: I know I won't see Death Sentence in the theater again, I'll never own it on DVD, and I can't honestly say that I would flat-out recommend it to a friend. But it was better than I ever expected it to be. I still stand by my assessment of the lack of necess-ity for the existence of something like Saw...but the next time around, I will give James Wan's other projects another chance.
Official Archives of LanceReviews...
Death Sentence
(Saw's director delivers a watchable film...)
This is a very misleading poster. I mean, what's he pro-tecting? His tie, his 401K? A sandwich in his briefcase?
Kevin Bacon and Kelly Preston turn in solid performan-ces as a husband and wife whose lives are upended by the senseless murder of their eldest son.
Justice delayed: Kevin Bacon sits in horror at the justice system's inability to prosecute his son's killer(Stuart Lafferty, left).
The thug club(led by Garrett Hedlund) chases after Kevin Bacon, determined to flip the script on that whole "eye for an eye" thing.
Baconman Begins: Not exactly satisfied with the way the system's worked so far, Bacon's character decides to even the score Old School style.
Aisha Tyler plays a detective whose heart is in the right place...but her methods leave something to be desired.
