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Sunday, Apr 27, 2008 2:45 PM
Documentary about anti-death penalty advocate, Caroll Pickett, a former prison chaplain in Texas who ministered to condemned men in their final days. From the makers of HOOP DREAMS and STEVIE.
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98 minutes
Directed by: Steve James and Peter Gilbert
New England Premiere
During his service as chaplain at Texas's infamous Huntsville Prison, the Reverend Carroll Pickett presided over the execution, by lethal injection, of 95 inmates. The haunting memories of this fascinating, reticent man serve as the broken heart of this deeply moving new film from Steve James and Pete Gilbert, who previously collaborated on the unforgettable documentaries HOOP DREAMS and STEVIE. Displaying their trademark sensitivity and formidable editing skills, the filmmakers intersperse Pickett's troubled reminiscences with a recent investigation by Chicago Tribune reporters into what appears to be the wrongful conviction of Carlos de Luna, a prisoner whom this preacher escorted to his eternal reward back in 1989––convinced, all the while, of de Luna's innocence.
Pickett's gradual conversion from a death-penalty advocate to opponent over the course of his career is treated with the complexity and thoughtfulness the issue deserves. There are no split-second epiphanies or strident speeches here, just one man's poignant, lifelong struggle to bring his own innate decency and some semblance of humanity into a process that is, by its very nature, designed to dehumanize.
-Vincent Archer
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