The Life of David Gale

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- Sh*t! Sh*t! Sh*t!

- Hey! Stop, please!

In a related story,

the high court had also refused...

to stay Friday's execution of former

philosophy professor David Gale.

- Oh, boy.

- Gale had sought a review

of his 1994 conviction...

for the rape and murder

of his University of Austin

colleague Constance Harraway.

The case has received

nation wide media attention

because Gale and Harraway...

were activists for DeathWatch,

a nonprofit abolitionist organization.

Do you understand how much money the

taxpayers pay in the state of Texas...

to put one person to death?

- What do we want?

- No more executions!

Governor,

can't we all just admit...

that the capital punishment system

in this country is not working?

They're not gonna stay Gale.

It's on TV right now. Listen.

Defense lawyers

had hoped to argue...

that Gale's former activism

against capital punishment...

unduly prejudiced

the Texas judicial system.

The deal was, Bitsey

would get the interview

if the stay was refused.

He'll talk to her

for two hours a day...

Tuesday, Wednesday

and Thursday.

Can't do Friday, no.

'Cause Friday's the day

they execute him.

- The lawyer said only Bitsey.

- Gale's going down.

"Only Bitsey" means only Bitsey.

I don't get to make

the rules, Joe. Please,

I'm a fat black woman.

- Tell him I said...

- What we need is to put her

on a plane to Texas.

Why do you get like that around legal?

Hold on. We're coming over.

So what's this "Only Bitsey

means only Bitsey" stuff?

- They asked for you and no substitutes.

- Who's "they" exactly?

Gale's lawyers.

More exactly, Gale's lawyer...

some good ol' boy in Austin.

- Why do they want me?

- You're telling me you don't

want the assignment?

No. I just can't see why a guy

on death row about to be

executed should ask for me.

I think they like the kiddie

porn piece you did and going

to jail and stuff.

I don't know.

Maybe he saw your picture

and thinks you're cute.

- So how much access do I get?

- Three interviews.

No time for any more.

By Friday, the guy's a goner.

- Okay. What exactly is our story?

- Rape, murder, death row.

Very intelligent guy.

Hey, maybe he's even innocent.

Yeah, right.

No, no. Tell him

I'll call him back. Thanks.

- Okay, so what's your problem?

- Hi, Barbara.

Good morning, Bitsey.

Okay. Here's my concern.

Setting aside the cost, although

half a million dollars...

in cash, I might add...

for three days of interviews

is not only illegal, it's obscene.

That's market value.

The guy's never talked.

Aside from that, I... we... are still

uncomfortable with the arrangement.

- Why?

- You just spent a very

public seven days in jail...

for a very public

contempt of court citation.

For protecting sources.

If you're so goddamn

uncomfortable with the story...

why did you slap it

on both the domestic

and the international covers?

Look, what makes me... us...

uncomfortable is the fact

that a rapist-slash-murderer...

has asked to spend the last three days

of his life giving an interview...

his very first...

to a reporter who is now famous

for protecting sexual deviants...

a reporter who's also

a very attractive woman.

Aw, come on!

This is disparate treatment.

- Oh, boy.

- I could go if I were an ugly guy?

There's an agenda issue here

which would be defused

with the presence of a man.

I hear lawyers gleefully

saying the words "Bloom vs.

NEWS Magazine, Incorporated. "

Your Honor, I started to notice

my assignments being determined

on the basis of my sex.

- No.

- You've gotta let her go now.

- That's not quite what I meant.

- He's gotta let you go.

All right, all right. Enough.

But the intern will be

with you at all times.

- Okay.

- What? Intern?

No. You gotta be kidding.

- That's what he said. He's the boss.

- He's a jerk.

Come on. Not an intern.

I always work alone.

- Not this time, Bitsey.

- Look, I'm not baby-sitting.

Gale's D.N.A. Was everywhere.

His semen was inside her.

He was seen leaving her house.

His prints were all over the kitchen,

including one on the bag.

- Half a thumb print.

- Okay, half a thumb print.

That's enough.

He could've touched it

before it was a murder weapon.

Do you fondle

your friends' garbage bags?

I get very touchy

around household plastics.

I'm particularly fond of Tupperware.

- Tupperware?

- Look, I'm just saying...

the bag could've been sitting

up on the counter or something.

- Zack? He did it. Now he's gonna die.

And you know something?

Maybe that's exactly what he deserves.

But the murder's way too f***in' clumsy.

This guy is a major intellectual.

Top of his Harvard class,

Rhodes scholar, tenured at 27,

two books published.

He's an academic stud.

Look at his wife,

a regular Grace Kelly...

old money svelte,

father was ambassador to Spain.

Sh*t. The light's on again.

- Ignore it. It's a rental.

- Do you smell anything?

No. Besides, the guy's

a flaming liberal.

A person's politics

has nothing to do...

- with his propensity

to commit a crime.

- Wrong.

Aren't we supposed to smell

something if it's overheating?

Seventy-three percent of

all serial killers vote Republican.

Look, throw your cigarette out

so we can smell.

- No. You'll stink up the car.

Throw it out.

- I'm not gonna f***in' pollute.

- Zack!

There is definitely

something wrong with this car.

Sh*t. This is so irritating.

- How far to Huntsville?

- Look. I'm gonna pull off.

NEWS Magazine reporters

Bitsey Bloom and Zack Stemmons...

enter the rest area

with car troubles.

Little did they know, it wasn't

just their car that was in trouble.

- I'm a reporter. You're an intern.

Whatever.

- Is it hot?

- Ow! Jesus! Yes. Isn't it always?

- What do I do?

- Call the office and get

the rental road service number.

- No signal. I gotta pee.

- Goddamn it.

Zack?

- Zack?

- Zack!

- Yeah!

- Good morning.

- Hi.

A little early for that, isn't it?

- The nonsmoking section's over there.

- I meant the book.

Oh. Dialogical Exhaustion

by David Gale.

- The guy's a genius.

- What time is it?

Death row's in the Ellis unit,

but they're moving it to the

Terrell unit end of the year.

The waitress's boyfriend works

there, but her last boyfriend

worked in the Huntsville unit.

The two before that in Walker.

The Estelle unit has the cutest guys.

And, I'm quoting, "My butt's too big

to get an Estelle guy."

Ellis is 15 minutes out of town,

so we've got five and a half hours.

Never eat in a place where the menus

have pictures of the food.

Maybe we should drive into Austin

and check out the crime scene.

That could be some great stuff

for our story, you know?

This isn't "our story."

It's not even a story.

It's an interview.

Most importantly for you to remember...

it's my interview.

Okay. What do I do

for the next five hours?

Drive around. Look for

a decent restaurant.

You know, Bitsey,

your reputation...

as "Mike Wallace with P.M.S"

doesn't do you justice.

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