What's really good about "Dead Man Walking" is that it shows Matthew Poncelet's (Sean Penn) side of the story, but it never portrays him as a hero. We understand that, and Sister Helen Prejean (Susan Sarandon) understands that. Sarandon definitely deserved her Best Actress Oscar for this movie (I can't believe that it took her so long to win one). Never preachy, the movie shows all sides of the story in looking at Poncelet's approaching execution. Among other things, this movie should dispel the notion that they don't make movies like they used to - although this one is over ten years old. A true classic in every sense of the word.

Sister Helen Prejean (Susan Sarandon) works with the poor and befriends Death Row Matthew Poncelet (Sean Penn) held in the Louisiana State Penitentiary. She had never visited a prison. He was convicted of killing a teen couple but he insists that his older partner Carl Vitello had actually done the killing. He seems to be a well-mannered but slightly racist. He asked for her help and she brings in lawyer Hilton Barber (Robert Prosky) to try for a pardon. Politics is pushing for his execution. She meets his mother and the parents of his victims.

At first, one expects a Hollywood innocent man falsely convicted. However, the movie unfolds in a way that it's more about the characters. The acting is superb. Sarandon is compelling but Sean Penn is sublime. He embodies the dark side even as he pleads his innocence. It's enhanced by the different versions of the incident. The big scene for me is the family preparing for the execution. Roberta Maxwell is amazing in her scenes. There is something very haunting about the regimented procedures of that day.

A nun (Susan Sarandon),while comforting a convicted killer on death row (Sean Penn),empathizes with both the killer and his victim's families.

Some have called this the Susan Sarandon and Sean Penn Show. And, that is probably true. After all, their performances more or less carried this movie. Even Penn's hair helped a little. But I prefer to think of it as the Tim Robbins Show, since he wrote it, directed it and stuffed it full of family members. This was like his family's gift to the world, take it or leave it.

Now, personally, I thought it was good but not as great as it is made out to be. The message is good, depending on what you take the message to be. I can see it being a story that even killers are people, too. But then, some are not people. Some are grizzly bears.