Long and hokey.

Rating: 4/10 (30 December 1999)

Not nearly as good as its hype. Hokey, predictable and slow.

You really think Louisiana prison guards (on death row watch, no less) were this politically correct during the 1930s?
The best scene (and by far one of the most gruesome scenes in recent movie memory, including the opening sequence in Saving Private Ryan) was when the little nazi prison guard (yes, there was one token bad guy guard) was in `charge' of an execution. A scene you won't soon forget.
The director also tries to get you to sympathize with a French prisoner who trains a little mouse, but they left out why he was on the row. A white guy (and this row was made up mostly of white guys. In Louisiana. In the 1930s. Right!) who must have done one nasty killing to be on death row, but what?
Any awards in this show go to the mouse Â– and even he wore out his welcome. What a stupid ending!