I have enjoyed Kevin Bacon in several movies over the years. I was interested in seeing Death Sentence when I first heard about it and I was recently able to go see it.
Nick Hume had a good life with his wife Helen and their two sons. Brendan was the oldest and very good at hockey. Brendan’s school team ended up playing a school that they normally didn’t play and Nick had to stop at a gas station in a bad part of town on the way home. Unfortunately a gang showed up and Brendan was killed by someone wanting to join the gang as his initiation. Nick and Helen were devastated and were ignoring Lucas in their struggle to deal with their grief.
The prosecutor said that the case wasn’t strong even though Nick could identify who did it and the guy was going to end up with a much shorter sentence than Nick thought he deserved. Nick decided to change his story so that the charges were dropped. Nick then tracked down the guy and killed him in the fight. Billy Darly, the leader of the gang and brother of the member Nick killed, was furious and decided to go after the rest of Nick’s family. Nick continued spiraling further out of control with his quest to get revenge for what happened to Brendan.
Death Sentence was based on the book written by Brian Garfield. He also wrote the book Death Wish that was the basis for the 1974 movie starring Charles Bronson. I’ve read that the author considered Death Sentence to be the sequel to Death Wish. I had thought that this movie would be like Death Wish even before I knew there was a connection. I haven’t read the book, but from what I have looked up about it online, the plot of the movie was completely different from the book. The main character in the book had been the same one from the first book and he had just moved to a new city where he continued his fight against crime. It seems like the only thing that stayed the same was the title.
The plot for Death Sentence really wasn’t that complicated. After the opening credits that showed bits from the family’s home movies, the movie jumped into the story. The attack on Brendan happened fairly early in the movie so the majority of it focused on how the family, and Nick especially, were dealing with what had happened. I didn’t feel like there really were surprises in the movie even though I wasn’t completely sure why a few things happened.
After Nick decided to change his story and the killer got off, it was very clear what was going to happen next. I wasn’t sure exactly how, but I was positive that he was going to take matters into his own hands. I also wasn’t surprised that Billy was mad and basically launched a war against Nick with what happened. There were only a couple of scenes when I thought there was a tiny amount of suspense. I did think the movie was predictable overall which will probably bother some people. I’m really not sure on how things could have been handled differently to avoid the predictability with this plot. Some of what happened really wasn’t that believable even though gang violence is a very big problem around the country.
Death Sentence was very violent and even gory. The violence started with the murder of Brendan and continued throughout the movie. The movie will be too graphic and violent for some viewers. A few scenes in particular were very graphic and gory, showing things I really could have done without seeing. There were several scenes that didn’t have any actual violence in them. After Brendan’s death, many of the scenes that didn’t have actual violence were instead focused on how Nick, Helen, and Lucas were dealing with what had happened. The movie definitely deserved the R rating and this isn’t a movie that children should see.
Most of the movie focused on Nick and how he was dealing with the murder of his oldest son. Nick had a good job and was happy with his life when the movie started. He was very proud of Brendan and he had a difficult time dealing with the murder. Nick was very upset when he heard that the killer would end up getting a rather short sentence, so he did something that drastically changed his life and that of his family. As the movie progressed, Nick spiraled more and more out of control, crossing further over the line. I did think that Kevin Bacon handled the part well and was believable as Nick.
Helen loved her husband and two sons and was devastated when Brendan was murdered. Kelly Preston really didn’t have a lot to do since Helen wasn’t in as much of the movie. Brendan seemed to be a very smart, responsible young man who had a very bright future. He did tease his younger brother at times, but the two seemed to have a good relationship. Lucas also wasn’t in a lot of the movie. He was having a lot of trouble dealing with the murder of his brother and he felt like his parents wouldn’t have been as upset if he had been the one to die instead. It would have been nice if there had been more time dealing with Lucas and how his parents were ignoring him after what had happened. Jordan Garrett was fine in the part.
Billy was the only one of the gang members that received some minimal development. He was in charge of the gang and the older brother of the killer. He was furious when his brother was murdered and set out to get revenge against Nick and his family. Garrett Hedlund was good in the part. Several other gang members were shown without any of them standing out in any way. They all sort of blended together and none of them were memorable. Aisha Tyler turned up every so often as Detective Wallis. She figured that Nick had done something but she was basically powerless to do anything about what was going on. John Goodman was in a few scenes as someone who sold guns and was connected to the gang.
Main Cast
Kevin Bacon - Nick Hume Jordan Garrett - Lucas Hume John Goodman - Bones Darley Garrett Hedlund - Billy Stuart Lafferty - Brendan Matt O’Leary - Joe Kelly Preston - Helen Aisha Tyler - Detective Wallis
James Wan - Director
Death Sentence was good overall even though I thought it had some issues. It could have been better, though I’m not sure how the predictability could have been avoided. Fans of Kevin Bacon may enjoy the movie even though it could be too violent for many.
Nick Hume (Kevin Bacon) is a mild-mannered executive with a perfect life, until one gruesome night he witnesses something that changes him forever. Tr...More at HotMovieSale.com
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