Of course this isn't about anything that is remotely sexy. No what I am implying here is the fact that Sharon Stone tried to dip her feet into something not familiar or something people did not see in her: being a sex symbol of the 90s surely had its perks, but also the stigma of not being taken too seriously either. So this was one of the movies she did to show off her talents - in acting and not in figure/beauty.

I never got around watching this before, I had seen the other Death Row movie "Dead Man Walking" with Sean Penn. It's been a while and I need to rewatch that, but I do remember really liking that. Which may have been a reason why this did not get that much attention. There's only so much drama a viewing audience can take. Still this is decent enough and has a powerhouse performance by Stone, even if it may lack in other departments ...

John Hayes (Peter Gallagher) is the governor's chief of staff. He gets his disgraced black sheep brother Rick Hayes (Rob Morrow) a job. Sam Burns (Randy Quaid) gives him a meaningless job to write a report on the possibility of clemency for death row inmate Cindy Liggett (Sharon Stone) but the governor never gives clemency. Liggett committed a double murder including the son of a wealthy supporter of the governor. As Rick investigates, he gets thrown off the case. A black prisoner is given clemency for political reasons while Liggett faces death.

This movie suffers badly from the comparison to 'Dead Man Walking'. Sharon Stone's performance is not horrible. This is more of a mystery about a case. The film simply doesn't do a good job with the emotional roller coaster of death row. It goes from stale to overacting. Rob Morrow is actually the lead of this film. He's not a compelling lead slipping in and out of a southern accent. The whole last act is done badly with a romantic sequence tacked on.

Death Row inmate Sharon Stone may be put to death by lethal injection if novice clemency lawyer Rob Morrow can't get the government to be sensitive to her case. Flimsy, one-dimensional melodrama tries taking a well-meant stand against the death penalty--but with such shallow characters, it's difficult to become involved. This was yet another bid by Stone to be taken as a serious actress, but instead she's rigid in this part, steely-eyed and dull; only in the film's final third does she shake off the cobwebs. Supporting cast (including Randy Quaid and Skeet Ulrich) is weakly-used and the writing is mediocre throughout. And what about that awful title? ** from ****