Exonerated (2005)

Synopsis: The story of six real life individuals, one female and five males, who were convicted of various crimes always including murder, sentenced to death, and subsequently freed after evidence came forth of their innocence. Starring Susan Sarandon, Danny Glover, Brian Dennehy, Aidan Quinn, Delroy Lindo, David Brown, Jr. Directed by Bob Balaban 

Exonerated is a film adapted from a play based on interviews with six real life survivors of Death Row. The entire dialogue in the film, with the exception of some interchange between the characters and their spouses, is taken verbatim from court transcripts, depositions, and interviews with the six individuals.

The movie is shot, almost in its entirety, against a stage-like dark backdrop, and even the few "reenactment" scenes are shown the same way. The six main characters tell their story(ies) while seated on a stool and in a montage, so that we get the stories all at once in similar stages for the six: background, circumstances of arrest, feelings of incarceration, the circumstances of their respective exoneration(s), and their feelings/activities upon being freed.

The first thing that I would state is that this is not a poster child for the abolishment of capital punishment, although it might certainly be viewed that way and, in the special features of the DVD, it is clear that at least two of the actors (Susan Sarandon, Brian Dennehy) favor abolition of the death penalty. In my view, and I think that of the director and writers of the script, the main focus is on the people who were the victims of misfortune, legal ignorance, political pressure, law enforcement's narrow focus, and the age old "being in the wrong place at the wrong time".   

The characters are uniform in their stories in one respect: their relative lack of spite for their situations. To be sure, some of them carry spite, David Brown, Jr.'s character is noticeably less than magnanimous regarding the system and his jailers, but it falls far short of what most of us would think someone who has been imprisoned and on death row for years would feel. The people in this story spent from 7 to 22 years on death row. I think the fact that well known actors tell their stories makes it more powerful than it would have been had the original victims done so, although we are briefly introduced to 5 of the 6 at the conclusion of the film.

There is no one unifying them among these six people. There are three blacks, three whites, one female, and five of the six had their cases in the Deep South, the most active region of the country for death penalty cases. As one who has had experience in working on both sides of the criminal law in murder cases, and has visited death row in one state, I can honestly say that, in a couple of instances, it is not surprising to me that two of the individuals were sentenced to death. (Danny Glover's character and Brian Dennehy's character).        

The issues of race, poverty, and government cover up are there, but only specifically talked about or alleged with three of the characters (David Brown, Jr. Aidan Quinn, Delroy Lindo). The main focus is on the irreplaceable loss each has suffered and the means in which they dealt with their incarceration and now appreciate their freedom.

I won't waste a lot of time telling you what you already know, that is that Susan Sarandon, Brian Dennehy, Aidan Quinn, Danny Glover (Missing In America), and Delroy Lindo are great actors and do a great job here. They always do. But, in my view, special mention needs to be made of Quinn, Lindo, and David Brown, Jr (the only actor from the play to appear in the movie).

Aidan Quinn does a fantastic job, although it must be said that I found his character's story to be the most compelling, evoking the dual sense of sympathy and fear, because the undercurrent message in all of these stories is that it could happen to you...or someone you know or love.

Delroy Lindo's character is the de facto narrator of the film, and the only one of the characters to talk almost entirely in broad strokes about the justice system and capital punishment. The character is a poet, and Lindo's presence and commanding voice bring his words to life o the point that you can't help but be moved.

David Brown, Jr. plays the most animated of the characters and, probably, the most likable as he is the only one to have his harsh reaction to his situation made very, very clear to his accusers. Also, the dialogue between he and his wife is pointed, real, and funny, which is to good effect in a film with this serious a level of content and tone.

As for the direction of the movie, it proves the old adage less is more, as Balaban, an accomplished actor himself, pretty much just lets the actors tell the true words of their characters and makes no noticeable effort to artificially make it more or less than it is, which is the major triumph of the film. The truth of this film is more than enough, and wherever one stands on the death penalty: pro, con, or indifferent, this movie will have affect as all true stories do that deal solely with the human feeling and condition that arises out of the tragedy.