Somewhere between BADLANDS and DEAD MAN WALKING lies MRS. SOFFEL, a time-period melodrama about a warden's Christian wife, played by a wistful Diane Keaton, who, while handing out bibles on death row, gets enamored with a slick, handsome folk hero, a young Mel Gibson soon to be hanged with younger brother Matthew Modine.

Whether it's true love, or the fact Gibson's character (who sounds strangely like Eric Roberts) has a way of conning naïve women, the underlying passion between the polar opposites, with the gray prison bars between them, is an engaging buildup to the inevitable escape and, during the final act the trio: Keaton, Gibson and Modine, ride a sled through the snowy winter with Terry O'Quinn's posse on their tail. The romantic aspect is somewhat thin – if Gibson resembled an everyman prisoner, would we have a film at all? But the direction, gorgeous cinematography and apt performances provide a spellbinding combination of style and substance, although there's more of the first than the latter.

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Diane Keaton is "Mrs. Soffel" in this 1984 dramatization of the Buck McGovern and the Biddle Brothers story.

Keaton plays the wife of a prison warden (Edward Herrmann) in 1901 Pittsburgh. The Biddle Brothers, Jack (Matthew Modine) and Ed (Mel Gibson) are in prison and are going to be hanged for murder. In this version anyway, due to their youth and Ed's good looks, the boys are folk heroes more on the style of the James Brothers, and crowds of mostly women gather at the prison each day with gifts, trying to get in to see Ed.

As a dutiful wife, Mrs. Soffel brings Bibles to the prisoners and reads to them. Married at 17, she has four children and a stuffy husband, and over time she finds herself attracted to Ed and believing the brothers to be innocent of their crimes. She is also opposed to hanging. Ed talks her into helping with an escape, but when it's carried out, he wants her to come along. Though she resists at first, Ed wins, and she goes on the run with Ed and Jack, leaving her husband and family behind.

Diane Keaton, with the help of an excellent script by Ron Nyswaner (Philadelphia, The Painted Veil),paints a portrait of an unfulfilled woman who, with Ed, finds freedom and adventure. She does fall in love with Ed, but by helping him escape, she's exerting some of her own power.

Remember the days when Mel Gibson was a gorgeous hunk with a wife and a bunch of kids, appearing on Saturday Night Live and making great movies? Yeah, it was years ago. Given that so much has happened to him in the past decades, it was almost difficult to watch him. He gives a wonderful performance, though I think his character was in the script and not the real Ed. In the film, Ed falls in love with Mrs. Soffel; in real life, he undoubtedly just played on her sympathies and used her, as he would have used any woman if one of them had been able to visit him in prison.

"Mrs. Soffel" captures turn of the century Pittsburgh with beautiful cinematography and the excellent direction by Gillian Armstrong keeps the story moving.

A poignant story.

****Spoilers here **** In real life, Ed does shoot Mrs. Soffel at her request as she realizes she will not be going back to her family; she survived, went to prison for a time, and when released, she opened a seamstress shop. Her husband had resigned his position and taken the children to live in Ohio. She died several years later.

The real main character of this case is Buck McGovern (Terry O'Quinn) who has a minor role here. The capture made his career and he went on to great things.

Kate Soffel, the wife of the Allegheny County jail warden, is a woman whose married life appears to be lacking the warmth and love that might have brought her together with Peter Soffel, in the first place. When we first meet her, she appears weak, recovering from an unknown ailment. She is willing to continue her Christian work, distributing bibles to the inmates in her husband's jail.

She gets interested in Ed Biddle, a handsome young criminal who is serving time, together with his brother, Jack. It's easy to see why this meek and somewhat shy woman falls deeply in love with the prisoner. He is what her husband is not. When Ed Biddle asks her to help them escape, she is happy to comply. In her mind, Ed represents freedom from her dull life. Kate, who appears to be a loving mother, doesn't mind throwing all away when she falls in love.

Nothing goes right as the plan is put in practice. Kate, Ed and Jack are doomed from the start; in the few days she spends time with her new lover, Kate finds a bliss she never knew. She throws away all her responsibilities aside to go with the brothers into an unknown territory, hoping to escape to Canada. In the end, Kate is alone as she must pay for her actions.

Gillian Armstrong, a feminist director, seems attracted to strong female characters, as it's the case in this picture. This is a story based on a true incident in the Pittsburgh of the beginning of the 20th Century. Although Ms. Armstrong has succeeded in presenting interesting women, her Kate Soffel, seems the right person to bring to the screen since she has a personality that recalls other strong women the director has examined before.

Diane Keaton, an actress whose choice of roles in comedies, and light fare, have been her trademark, here shows a range most viewers didn't know she had. As Mrs. Soffel, she is full of lust and a passion that only a criminal, Ed Biddle, awakens in her. Ms. Keaton's work is the best excuse to see the film. Mel Gibson is effective as the criminal Ed Biddle in one of his rare dramatic roles. Matthew Modine gives a restrained performance. Edward Herrmann, Trini Alvarado, Jennifer Dundas, Terry O'Quinn, Maury Chaykin, are seen among the supporting roles.

"Mrs. Soffel" came and went without much fanfare, but it's worth a look because of the powerful combination of Gillian Armstrong and Diane Keaton and the interesting cinematography by Russell Boyd.