The Exonerated
A stellar cast is the chief appeal ofThe Exonerated, director Bob Balaban's film adaptation of Jessica Blank and Erik Jensen's true-life stage play. Susan Sarandon, Danny Glover, Brian Dennehy, Aidan Quinn, and Delroy Lindo portray five of the six people (the sixth is played by newcomer David Brown, Jr.) who were convicted of crimes they didn't commit and spent years on various death rows before their cases were re-examined and new evidence led to their being set free. Performing a script pieced together from actual court transcripts, depositions, letters, and interviews, each of the six, some of them accompanied by a spouse, recounts his or her story from beginning (crime, arrest, and conviction) to end (i.e., exculpation and readjustment to the outside world, where they must "practice to be human again"). Some of the material is pretty shocking, reflecting outrageously inept and/or prejudicial work on the part of law enforcement, legal representatives, and/or court officials; for instance, the lawyer for Kerry Max Cook (Quinn), who was locked up for over 20 years on a patently bogus rape-murder conviction, was a former district attorney who had twice prosecuted him in the past. Other characters are introduced via occasional re-enactments of police interrogations, trial testimony, and such, but for the most part it's the six principals who dominate the screen. That's a mixed blessing; although placing the actors against black, blank backdrops and bathing them in holy light is certainly dramatic, the result is somewhat static and, not surprisingly, very theatrical (The Exoneratedhad over 600 off-Broadway performances, in addition to national tours). Nevertheless, its impact is considerable--especially when the real "exonerees" appear onscreen at the end. Extra features include bios and interviews with the writers and actors.--Sam Graham