Death Sentence (2007) Movie Review

Death Sentence
Starring: Kevin Bacon, Kelly Preston, Jordon Garrett, Garrett Hedlund, Stuart Lafferty, John Goodman. Aisha Tyler, Matt O’Leary
Directed By: James Wan
Written By: Ian Jeffers, Brian Garfield
Released: 2007
Grade: A+

James Wan can be inconsistent with his movie making. He did a great job with Saw. This is a particularly large accomplishment for him since one of the best things about the film is the creativity that it brought back to the horror genre. It gave us gore and terror with still having a psychological side to it, even if it was one that drove the characters to their death. He produced the second film and returned to writing for the third. The first film was far better than the sequels. Wan’s writing on Saw III was merely okay. It seemed like his skills were decreasing even more with the horrendous Dead Silence. Not only did it borrow plots and elements from far better movies, but it was put to shame in doing so. There was nothing original about Dead Silence. Not to mention it gave you no reason to be scared: if the victims simply wouldn’t scream then the villain would be completely powerless. Many of the scenes were shown completely and it left you leaving the movie feeling cheated. After seeing Death Sentence though I am convinced that James Wan has great potential as a director at least if nothing else. I am under the impression that he didn’t know where to go from Saw. Dead Silence was just another movie to make that would be guaranteed to make some money; all they had to do was advertise it as the next film from the makers of Saw. Wan just needed a good story and a good script and that was Death Sentence, which is now his most impressive film.

Nick Hume (Bacon) seems to have a pretty good life. He has a nice job as an executive making a large enough salary to live comfortably off of. He also has a lovely wife (Preston) and two sons, Lucas (Garrett) and Brendan (Lafferty). He is closer to his son Brendan though. Brendan is a hockey player and Nick can relate to the sports fan in him. Lucas is very different though. He is more artistic and often misunderstood by his father. After one of Brendan’s hockey games, Nick takes him home. Little did he know, that a simple stop at the gas station would tear his whole life apart. While Brendan is inside, there appears to be a robbery and Brendan is shot. He is taken to the hospital, but he doesn’t make it.

Brendan’s death really gets to everyone . Especially because Detective Wallis (Tyler) and Nick’s lawyer are questioning whether the murderer will go to jail for very long. Nick has identified him as Joe Darley (O‘Leary), but there is no other evidence; all they have is Nick’s word. 3-5 years is the sentence expected and that is if they bargain. It turns out it wasn’t even a robbery. It was a gang initiation in disguise. This all just seems so unfair to Nick. He has lost his pride and joy and the man who took that away from him is going to get off easy.
At the trial, Nick forfeits and lets the murderer go free. He wants to make sure Joe will be properly punished, even if he has to take justice in to his own hands. Nick tracks down Joe and gives him his death sentence. This starts a war though. Nick is a mess, knowing that he killed a man. His family is suffering, hurt, and feeling more and more distant from Nick due to his nervous behavior. When Joe’s gang, especially his brother, Billy (Hedlund), finds out about his death, they plan to get revenge. It doesn’t take them long to figure out that Nick was the one who killed him. From this point Nick has to be ready to fight to the death from every corner he turns. It gets to the point where it seems that his death will be the only ending to this. His family has been threatened now. Nick already feels responsible for his sons death, he can’t let the rest of his family die as well because of his actions.

Death Sentence is a magnificent addition to Kevin Bacon’s already stunning career. He put so much in to this role and as a result the audience got so much out of it. We see a drastic transformation of his character and the execution of the plot was risen because of it. Kelly Preston does a great job as well as his caring wife and a worried mother, struggling with the loss of a child. As if that isn’t bad enough, she is afraid she is losing her husband too. Preston is the one attempting to keep the family together.

Jordan Garret played a very sympathetic character. Although, he fought with his brother, it was still very hard for him to lose him. He has more conflicting thoughts. He can’t help, but think his father would be happier if he were the one who died and Brandon had lived. Lucas is very easy to relate to for anyone who questioned how someone really felt about them. Brendan was Stuart Lafferty’s first role in a film. His only other acting experience was a small role on one episode of the teen drama, “One Tree Hill.” He is the younger brother of one of the show’s stars, James Lafferty. For the time that Stuart is on screen he plays his role well. We are able to see what kind of a boy Brandon and the bond he has with his father. This becomes even more important as we watch Kevin Bacon struggling with everything from the point of Brandon’s death. We see why Nick was driven to do what he did. John Goodman played an interesting role as the father of two of the Darley boys who were in the gang. You can see guns run in the family since he sells them. You can tell he is unsettled about Joe’s death and that he blames Billy for it. Billy had been in the gang for some time and he had done many bad things. However, the last straw was almost sending Joe to jail and giving Nick the motive to kill him.

Family is a major theme of Death Sentence. It is evident in the Hume family. That is what drove Nick to do what he did. All of the family members are coping. Luke’s feelings are torn though. He is struggling for his father’s approval. He just wants to be appreciated like his brother was. The rival family of the Darleys have different issues. The sons, especially Billy have made some very bad decisions. The father is to the point where he is fed up. When Nick goes after Billy, he basically tells him, he isn’t going to help him, but he isn’t going to stop him either. This is nothing compared to the coldness that Billy shows as he turns on his family. Death Sentence makes us question our justice system too. How is it that someone could get off so lightly on cold blooded murder? I am not saying Nick was justified in what he did, but are government officials justified in killing convicted criminals? Either way it is a death sentence. In Nick’s case it was survival of the fittest, where the other way it is just a government order. This means the victim has no choice but to face their death.

Death Sentence is more than your average revenge film. There have been many great ones in the past. They start with an unjust act, usually something life threatening. They then bring you to the point of getting even, which is even more harsh than the original act. They are drastic, but since you side with the character, you see things from their side. What sets Death Sentence apart from these is it doesn’t just depend on the brutality. I was expecting Death Sentence to be violently intense, but I wasn’t expecting it to be so emotionally intense. We get a chance to know the characters. A beautiful picture is painted and there is contrast between relationships. Seeing the light that things started off in makes the rest of the film seem even darker. The thing is that the characters emotions never leave us. It is as if we are going through just what they are. This ended up being a very sentimental movie for me and it was still dark and violent. It is interesting how well these two things were woven together. This understanding gave the viewer a new found knowledge and made the deaths more real as if they were a part of our own lives. Death Sentence gets the best of you. It hits you hard and it keeps on doing this. Things just get worse and worse as tables turn. The one good thing about this is that it makes Nick realize what he has and not to let that go like he did with Brendan. I have heard Death Sentence being called a modern Death Wish. This is understandable since they were written by the same author and have many similar themes. Death Wish was a very good film, but Death Sentence does everything more effectively. Our emotions are hit and new lengths are met. Not only is Death Sentence an incredible revenge film, but it is the most impressive film so far of 2007.