There is an old saying that states, "Don't shoot the messenger!" After witnessing David Gale, some audience members may get so absorbed in the message that they will forget what the film is about. Or what it is trying to accomplish.

Professor David Gale (Kevin Spacey) is a disbarred philosophy professor who is sitting on death row for rape and murder. His victim was Constance Hallaway (Laura Linney), a death penalty advocate who used to call Gale a friend. Gale was also a part of her crusade to save condemned men. Hence the irony to where Gale sits.

Enter, Bitsy Bloom (Kate Winslet), a crusader herself who wants nothing that to be the best and most stalwart journalist she can be. Probably the reason why Gale asked her to come and tell his story. Was Gale wrongfully convicted? If so, what kind of conspiracy put him there? It is up to Bitsy and her rather lanky assistant, Zack (Gabriel Mann), to unravel the mystery, if there is one.

It seems to me that Kevin Spacey has an ability to headline pictures with "blatantly" obvious messages housed in haphazard scripts. The first being the awful "Pay it Forward" and the second being this picture. Don't get me wrong, Gale is a lot more involving and interesting to absorb than "Pay It Forward". Gale may also bring audience members to break out into fist fights upon exiting the theatre as I am sure there will be a war of words after the film's shocking and cryptic ending is unraveled. In "Pay It Forward's" case, the audience would be frantically hugging each other and screaming, "I love you, man!"

The problem with both of these films is the delivery of the message within the 120-minute or so running time. No matter if you are for or against capital punishment, any film should let the audience decide. The message shouldn't overpower the story. Gale suffers from that in many ways and the film's impact hinges on the film's conclusion.

I really found Gale, as a movie, to be uneven and circumstantial in a lot of ways. I really felt involved when the film focused on Gale's life but was bored to tears when we came back to find Bitsy debating with Zack. How Bitsy would stumble upon clues and plot devices were all pretty elementary to dumbest of Sherlock's. I gather that the filmmakers wanted the audience to be characterized within Bitsy and Zack thus pulling away from Gale's plight. The film doesn't accomplish that feat.

Kevin Spacey could be considered one of the best actors working today and his performance of Gale is restrained and edgy but also sympathetic. I really enjoyed Spacey in this film even though the film's script did get a little preachy. The performance to be noted had to be that of Laura Linney but the filmmakers allowed the actress to play with every Oscar moment cliché in a film's arsenal to achieve her stellar performance.

Good movies such as "Roe vs. Wade", "Mississippi Burning", "And the Band Played On" or "The Laramie Project", all delivered powerful messages but allowed the audience to enjoy the story without getting bludgeoned to death by the message.

The more I debated my feelings toward this film, the more I kept returning to "Pay It Forward". Gale does manipulate you in a different way than "Pay It Forward" but you still used after its conclusion. I wanted to critique the film on it's merits as a mystery and thriller but once you take out its message you are left with squat.

Am I to a victim of the film's message? Please don't shoot this messenger.

(2.5 out of 5) So Says the Soothsayer.