Trial by Fire

Well acted and engaging. Don't let the ludicrous 51 fool you. This is a well made, engrossing film with solid performances all around.

Powerful, heartbreaking and tragic. This film is seriously underrated and I only imagine because its ratings have been influenced by politics.

Jack O'Connell delivered his career-best performance in this as Cameron Todd Willingham. The transformation of Todd is perfectly brought to life by O'Connell during the course of the film. It helps that he shares excellent, heartwarming chemistry with Laura Dern who has come to play such roles so effortlessly. It was a joy to watch them share the screen.

That's mostly where the joys end though. This is a sad film that takes the tragedies to a whole new level - just when you think it not possible. It will more than likely leave you depressed - as it did me. But it also does the story justice, and is sensitive in its delivery. It doesn't paint Willingham as some saint the whole time, which adds authenticity.

The bond which develops between Todd and main correctional officer, Daniels (Chris Coy) was great to watch.

Trial By Fire is a thought-provoking film and will not only get you thinking about capital punishment, but life itself. Highly recommend to those after a heavy-hitting drama, or for fans of O'Connell and Dern.

When compared to the true story they did quite good. There were a few things not explained properly like who was the woman who told Laura Dern to write to a prisoner? And they didn't show enough of the ex wife and her feelings. However it was an interesting movie with good acting that got me teary.

Oh, dang... this movie is really heavy and sad at times. Based on a true story, a father denies deliberately setting his house on fire and killing his three young children. I don't believe in the death penalty (largely because MANY innocent people are convicted of murder), and this movie spends a lot of time on death row... at times, it's grim. But there's also hope in the movie and a stellar, layered performance from Laura Dern. Worth a watch if you can handle the subject matter.

This was a well acted and thought provoking film which should challenge anyone's opinion of the death penalty and the serious flaws in the justice system. It was quite a long film, but worth watching.