Witnessing the casual brutality of his mates towards the prisoners, Henry’s value system begins to collapse and he starts questioning the whole validity of the penitentiary system that he had sworn to serve.Ĭarl represents everything Henry is not–his soul is filled with hate, his body with violence, his conscience seemingly empty. It takes the highly moralistic Henry some time to realize that ruthlessness and corruption extend to the prison guards as well.
In jail, he meets Carl Panzram (Woods), a vengeful murderer with animalistic instincts who’s perceived as unreachable and irredeemable. Set in the l920s in Leavenworth Prison, story introduces Henry Lesser (Leonard) at the beginning of his career as a guard with lofty dreams and hopes for reform. At the same time, there’re enough differences to warrant viewing of both dramas, each of which is fascinating in its own right. Both films deal with the controversial issue of capital punishment, and both center on the psyche of a criminal and his slow, torturous road to attaining truth and redemption.
Inevitable comparisons will be made between Killer: A Journal of Murder and Tim Robbins’ Dead Man Walking, as both are intriguing tales about the complex interaction–and fateful attraction–of two individuals who stand at the opposite poles of the spectrum. Oliver Stone’s production, which features top-notch performances by James Woods, as the remorseless criminal, and Robert Sean Leonard, as the liberal guardian, deserves to be seen on the big screen before moving on to TV, Cable, video and other venues. Based on a true story, Killer: A Journal of Murder is a disturbing prison drama about the unlikely relationship–and friendship–between a self-proclaimed reprobate, who may have been America’s first serial killer, and a conscientious ward seeking his redemption.
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