30 Second Bottom Line: David Gale is four days away from being executed for rape and murder in Texas. He wants investigative reporter Bitsey Bloom to tell his story. But there's a devastating twist in the "tale of the tape" that mysteriously turns up in Bitsey's motel room.

Story Line: Sentenced to die in four days, for a murder he claims he didn't commit, David Gale (Spacey) enlists the help of Bitsey Bloom (Winslet), an energetic, no nonsense reporter for "News" (think "Newsweek") magazine. Gale was a brilliant college professor, with an unfaithful wife and a young son, before he was found guilty of raping and murdering his longtime friend and colleague, Constance Hallaway (Linney). Also an outspoken advocate for abolishing the death penalty in Texas, he and Constance worked tirelessly with Deathwatch, the organization Constance headed.

When Constance was found with her hands cuffed behind her back, suffocated and nude, with Gale's semen in evidence, he was arrested and convicted. Gale and his attorney, good ole boy Braxton Belyeu, have arranged for Bitsey to interview Gale three consecutive days, two hours each day. Day four…he dies.

When Gale tells her "You know I'm innocent," Bitsey's reply is "No, I don't." Gale chides her with "Ms. Bloom, I used to be the state's leading death penalty abolitionist and now I'm on death row. Doesn't that strike you as a little odd?" A frame-up? It gets Bitsey's juices flowing.

There's obviously more here than meets the eye. Part of that is disclosed in a cruelly revealing video tape that's left dangling, like a hanged figure, in Bitsey's motel room. And who is the cowboy following Bitsey and Zack in a beat up pick-up truck? Piece by piece the story of what happened comes together. Too late…or just at the right time? How far would you go?

Tell Me More About It: There are reasons this film is less than the sum of its parts. A fine actor like Kevin Spacey (miscast here) teamed with two keenly intelligent and engaging co-stars, Kate Winslet and Laura Linney can't make this inept script add up. The dialogue is pedestrian. I've heard the one about not eating where the menu has pictures of the food…a few times. Besides, I would think an on-the-go reporter grabs a lot of meals in places like that. And what about the convenience of having all the critical points of interest within running distance of each other? With minutes remaining before Gale is executed, the shack where the last piece of evidence is hidden and the gas station telephone is a sprint for Zack. Then the stretch of deserted highway, where the rental car breaks down, leading to the prison where TV cameras are scanning the large crowd awaiting Gale's execution, has Bitsey doing a bit from "Run Lola Run."

Capital punishment is serious business. The argument brings out the angst in death row inmates, some of whom are later proven not guilty, victim's families, and the public. We suspect Gale is innocent, we like Constance, and Bitsey is earnest in her zeal. Yet I could never fully engage with these characters because they were just that¾cardboard characters.

The story is labyrinthine but that should be a positive, given the gravity of the subject. The motives of the players involved are complex. That makes for great drama. An ironic twist turns what you know inside out. All wonderful stuff but there's something critical missing in the execution!

Kevin Spacey: Austin Powers in Goldmember, Shipping News, K-Pax, American Beauty	Kate Winslet: Iris, Enigma
Director Alan Parker: Angela's Ashes	Laura Linney: Mothman Prophecies, You Can Count on Me

Kevin Spacey: David Gale	Kate Winslet: Bitsey Bloom
Laura Linney: Constance Hallaway	Directed by Alan Parker