Thomas Newman does it again

Rating: 8/10 (31 January 2007)

I must say the first time I saw this film I was not impressed. I was 15 and with my parents in the theater. I watched it again today with my wife because it came on FX and I was too lazy to get up and change the channel. All I have to say is what a movie. The story is about a gang of prison guards who work on death row in a prison down south, They do the best they can to make the condemned mens lives a little bit better for their final days. That is if the convict is not a complete animal without remorse. Enter Mr. Duncan playing a dimwitted muscular African American accused of murdering and raping two little girls. At first I thought maybe this character is slightly offensive? But his lovable nature and antique soul helped me see beyond that. He is truly a beautiful man, an angel perhaps who has the ability to heal the sick. As the film goes on you learn that he was actually trying to heal the little girls. Anyway let's just say a black man in the south in the nineteen thirties did not stand much a chance of being found innocent of anything even if he was Jesus Christ himself reborn. I shed tears on several occasions to the point where my pregnant, over emotional wife was comforting me. I do give this film my seal of approval for what its worth.