Death Sentence (2007)
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A mild-mannered executive is forced into a violent crusade of vengeance after his son is murdered by a gang member.
The story
Nick Hume, an insurance company vice president who prefers to follow the rules, lives a quiet life with his wife Helen and two sons, Brendan and Lucas. While stopping at a gas station, Nick and Brendan are caught in a robbery where a gang member kills Brendan as an initiation ritual. When the legal system fails to provide justice for his son's death, Nick takes matters into his own hands. He begins a dangerous hunt for the gang members responsible, eventually leading to a violent confrontation that puts his entire family in the crosshairs of the gang's retaliation.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
Nick Hume, a successful insurance company vice president, lives a stable life with his wife Helen and two sons, Brendan and Lucas. During a trip to a gas station, Nick and Brendan are robbed; the gang leader's brother, Joe Darley, kills Brendan as an initiation. After the police fail to secure a conviction against Joe due to weak evidence, Nick tracks down and murders Joe. This act brings a 'death sentence' upon Nick's family from the gang leader, Billy Darley. The gang eventually murders Nick's wife and leaves his younger son, Lucas, in a coma. Seeking revenge, Nick acquires firearms from a black market dealer, Bones Darley (Billy's father). Nick systematically hunts down gang members, eventually discovering their lair in an abandoned mental hospital. He kills the remaining members before facing Billy in a final, brutal confrontation in a chapel. After killing Billy, Nick returns home to watch old home movies as he awaits his arrest, while learning that Lucas has survived.
- First release year
- 2007
- Runtime (minutes)
- 106
- Production countries
- United States
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- James Wan
- Writers
- Ian Mackenzie Jeffers · screenplay
- Cast and characters
- Kevin Bacon · Nick Hume; Garrett Hedlund · Billy Darley; Kelly Preston · Helen Hume; Aisha Tyler · Jessica Wallis; John Goodman · Bones Darley; Matt O'Leary · Joe Darley; Leigh Whannell · Spink; Stuart Lafferty · Brendan Hume
- Genres
- action; drama; thriller; crime; vigilante; psychological
- Themes
- vengeance; vigilantism; family loyalty; decline of morality
- Tone and mood
- violent; intense; gripping; dark
- Premise and plot tags
- revenge; gang violence; crime; vigilante justice
- Source material / true-story basis
- 1975 novel by Brian Garfield
- Franchise connections
- Death Wish (film series)
- Content notes
- violence
- Reception
- The film received generally negative reviews from critics, with a Metacritic score of 36, and an average CinemaScore of 'C'. It was a box office disappointment, grossing $17 million against a $20 million budget.
- Reported review scores
- Metacritic · score: 36 · scale: 100 · review count: 24
- Production trivia
- James Wan confirmed this was his last movie shot on traditional celluloid photochemical film.; The character of Detective Jessica Wallis was originally written as a 50-year-old male detective.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
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