(1984) Mrs. Soffel
DRAMA/ SOCIAL COMMENTARY
Starring Mel Gibson as prisoner, Ed Biddle and Diane Keaton as Kate Soffel that was supposedly based on fact. That happened in 1901 centering on those two characters unusual love affair. 'The Biddle Brothers' of Ed (Mel Gibson) and his brother, Jack (Mathew Modine) are sentenced to death because of another former criminal's testimony, which this guy claims he saw the brothers shoot and kill a defenseless store clerk. Except that these claims are made by a convict who already has a criminal record. And since out of the many robberies the Biddle Brothers had done together, their had never been a recorded incident where someone had been killed as a result of those robberies, so it's more probable than not that it had never happened. Anyways, Mrs. Soffel is married to the warden of this particular prison where all she does is hand out bibles and blankets to all the inmates. At first, she doesn't believe Ed (Gibson) when he tells her that him and his brother are innocent in regarding a clerk's death, but as a result of putting one her daughters into bed, her daughter informs her as a result of saving newspaper clippings that it's more probable than impossible that 'the brothers' may be innocent. Ed then strike up an emotional attraction with Mrs. Soffel since she's not getting any from her impotent husband anymore, which her marriage seems to be lifeless. As viewers witness they sleep in separate rooms and act like husband and wife in principal only. And it was during that time, she of course does her best to prevent this death penalty to occur. Although, I liked both Mel Gibson and Diane Keaton's performances, the story structure is somewhat dull and predictable. For it was obvious the film is clearly arguing against the death penalty, solely for this reason is that the accused might be innocent. And this message was mentioned like in the first half hour before it drags and prolongs the movie by showcasing the two characters of Keaton and Gibson becoming intimate with one another, something one can get from a Harlequin novel. And that is boring which forced me to use the fast forward button on many scenes while playing.
