The Executioner's Song (1982)

★ 5.7 2h 15m 31 votes IMDb

In this fact-based made-for TV film, Gary Gilmore, an Indiana man who just finished serving a lengthy stay in prison, tries to start anew by moving to Utah. Before long, Gary begins an ill-advised romance with the troubled Nicole Baker, a teenage single mother. As their relationship quickly deteriorates, Gary goes on a murderous rampage, leaving two dead. During his trial, he demands capital punishment; a media circus ensues and outsiders look to profit from his story.

The Executioner's Song

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Cast

Tommy Lee Jones
Tommy Lee Jones as Gary Mark Gilmore Age 79 · San Saba, Texas, USA Tommy Lee Jones (born September 15, 1946) is an American actor and film director. He has received four Academy Award nominations, winning Best Supporting Actor for his performance as U.S. Marshal Samu...
Christine Lahti
Christine Lahti as Brenda Nicol Age 76 · Birmingham, Michigan, U.S. Christine Ann Lahti (born April 4, 1950) is an American actress and filmmaker. She was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for the 1984 film Swing Shift. Her other film roles i...
Rosanna Arquette
Rosanna Arquette as Nicole Baker Age 66 · New York City, New York, USA Rosanna Lisa Arquette (born August 10, 1959) is an American actress. She was nominated for an Emmy Award for her performance in the TV film The Executioner's Song (1982) and won the BAFTA Award for Be...
Eli Wallach
Eli Wallach as Vern Damico Died 2014 · Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA Eli Herschel Wallach (December 7, 1915 – June 24, 2014) was an American film, television and stage actor, who gained fame in the late 1950s. For his performance in Baby Doll he won a BAFTA Award for B...
Steven Keats
Steven Keats as Larry Samuels Died 1994 · The Bronx, New York City, New York, USA From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Steven Keats (February 6, 1945 – May 8, 1994) was an American actor who appeared in such films as Silent Rage, Death Wish, Black Sunday, The Friends of Eddie Coy...
Richard Venture
Richard Venture as Earl Dorius Died 2017 · New Jersey, USA Richard Venture (November 12, 1923 - December 19, 2017) was an American actor, known for Heartbreak Ridge (1986), Scent of a Woman (1992) and Missing (1982)..

Audience Reviews

CinemaSerf 6/10 May 29, 2023
t was always going to be a challenge to dramatise this Norman Mailer book. It is a complex and intricate story of ex-con "Gary Gilmore" (Tommy Lee Jones) who is released back into society after serving a sentence for armed robbery. He quickly meets Nicole (Rosanna Arquette) with whom he has a child, before that all goes wrong and his life spirals out of control again. Determined to buy a white pick up truck from a local dealer, he turns to robbery to fund this - needlessly killing two men as he goes. He is easily identified, arrested and sentenced to death by firing squad (his choice) after insisting that all appeals be abandoned. It is clear, to me anyway, that "Gilmore" is ill - psychopathic, perhaps, and TLJ manages the role with some skill. Arquette also shines , she portrays the teenage mother vacillating from terror of the man to adoration in a convincing, earthy, manner. It's the pace of the thing that got me; it all takes far too long to get anywhere. It simply doesn't need to be 2¼ hours long and the last twenty minutes drag out the inevitable conclusion unnecessarily. Eli Wallach features all to sparingly as does Christine Lahti and though Jones delivers a powerful performance that does much to sustain this depiction of this very flawed human being, I found myself actually just a little bit bored by it all.

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