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Movies / On DVD / Pierrepoint: The Last Hangman
Pierrepoint: The Last Hangman

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Pierrepoint: The Last Hangman (2007)

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Reviews Counted:50

Fresh:38

Rotten:12

Average Rating:7/10

Consensus: Director Adrian Shergold doesn't shy away from the darker elements of the movie's subject, and Timothy Spall is mesmerizing as the title character.

Rated: R [See Full Rating] for disturbing images, nudity and brief sexuality

Runtime: 90 mins

Genre: Dramas

Theatrical Release:Jun 1, 2007 Limited

Synopsis: Timothy Spall (Professor Pettigrew from the Harry Potter movies) gives a magnificently multilayered performance as the protagonist in PIERREPOINT: THE LAST HANGMAN. Spall plays Albert Pierrepoint,... Timothy Spall (Professor Pettigrew from the Harry Potter movies) gives a magnificently multilayered performance as the protagonist in PIERREPOINT: THE LAST HANGMAN. Spall plays Albert Pierrepoint, a grocery deliveryman who decides to apply for his father's old job--a hangman for the British courts. Soon he is perfecting the execution procedure, fulfilling his duties in record time and with no problems whatsoever. Though proud of his success, Pierrepoint prefers to keep it to himself, not even telling his wife, Anne (Juliet Stevenson), what he does when he leaves the house for days at a time. But when General Montgomery himself (Clive Francis) asks Pierrepoint to execute dozens of Nazis who have been sentenced to death, for the first time Pierrepoint starts questioning what he does, and soon his relatively calm, quiet world is turned upside down. Based on a true story, PIERREPOINT: THE LAST HANGMAN is a gripping period drama, bathed in grays by cinematographer Danny Cohen and production designer Candida Otton. Spall is mesmerizing as Pierrepoint, his slow walk and penetrating eyes filling the screen. Stevenson is excellent as his loyal wife, standing by him through thick and thin. PIERREPOINT is directed with careful precision by Adrian Shergold, a longtime actor and television director who trained at the feet of Mike Leigh, who has cast Spall in many of his own films. And Eddie Marsan excels as Tish, a compatriot of Pierrepoint's who lands himself in a very nasty bit of trouble. [More]

Starring: Timothy Spall, Juliet Stevenson, Eddie Marsan, James Corden

Starring: Timothy Spall, Juliet Stevenson, Eddie Marsan, James Corden, Christopher Fulford, Tobias Menzies, Tim Woodward

Director: Adrian Shergold

Director: Adrian Shergold
Screenwriter: Bob Mills, Jeff Pope
Producer: Christine Langan
Composer: Martin Phipps
Studio: IFC Films

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Release:

Oct 30, 2007

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Reviews for Pierrepoint: The Last Hangman

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1 - 20 (sorted by fresh rating)
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In the wrong hands this could have been capital punishment, but as a low key drama about one man's unique approach to life and other people's deaths, it's actually just, er, capital.

Full Review Source: BBC | comment Comment
05/06/06
Adrian Hennigan
Adrian Hennigan
BBC

A genuine and skillful account of one of Britain's most morally ambiguous working-class characters.

Full Review Source: Sympatico.ca | comment Comment
06/18/07
Angela Baldassarre
Angela Baldassarre
Sympatico.ca

Pierrepoint is worth seeing for Shergold’s attention to process and for all the ghoulish details.

Full Review Source: New York Magazine | comment Comment
06/04/07
David Edelstein
David Edelstein
New York Magazine
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

...there's little doubt that the film will work just as well on the small screen as it does in theaters.

Full Review Source: Reel Film Reviews | comment Comment
10/06/05
David Nusair
David Nusair
Reel Film Reviews

Handles capitol punishment in a similar way that "Vera Drake" tackled the abortion issue ... allows Timothy Spall's resplendent dramatic chops to shine.

Full Review Source: ComingSoon.net | comment Comment
05/29/07
Edward Douglas
Edward Douglas
ComingSoon.net

The shocker near the end is one of the more heartbreaking pieces of cinema in quite a while.

Full Review Source: Entertainment Insiders | comment Comment
06/08/07
Eric Lurio
Eric Lurio
Entertainment Insiders

An emotionally powerful drama about the dirty business of capital punishment.

Full Review Source: Spirituality and Practice | comment Comment
06/08/07
Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat
Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat
Spirituality and Practice

The movie hits its message a little too emphatically, and its narrative unwinds a little too schematically. But Spall's performance, along with that of Juliet Stevenson as his devoted and sometimes credulous spouse, keeps things grounded.

Full Review Source: Newsday | comment Comment
05/31/07
Gene Seymour
Gene Seymour
Newsday
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Based on their press materials, they think they have made a film damning capital punishment and exploring Britain's most famous executioner. In fact, they haven't. But they have made a film of artistic beauty and endless fascination.

Full Review Source: culturevulture.net | comment Comment
07/10/07
Harry Chotiner
Harry Chotiner
culturevulture.net

Effectively shows how an executioner kills over six hundred people before coming to end of his rope.

Full Review Source: Compuserve | comment Comment
05/24/07
Harvey S. Karten
Harvey S. Karten
Compuserve

The movie grows more compelling in the latter half as British public opinion turns against capital punishment and Pierrepoint begins to have his own doubts.

Full Review Source: Chicago Reader | comment Comment
06/21/07
J. R. Jones
J. R. Jones
Chicago Reader

Whether the real Pierrepoint, who died in 1992, had a clear conscience, the portly Spall creates the perfect impression of a quietly decent, proud man who is overwhelmed by unwanted celebrity and by one too many jerking ropes.

Full Review Source: New York Daily News | comment Comment
06/08/07
Jack Mathews
Jack Mathews
New York Daily News
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

The shot angles, the gray look of the film as a whole and Timothy Spall’s spectacular and understated performance as Pierrepoint make this one of the most powerful anti-capital punishment films I’ve seen.

Full Review Source: San Diego Metropolitan | comment Comment
06/09/07
Jean Lowerison
Jean Lowerison
San Diego Metropolitan

An empathetic portrait of a complicated figure, chronicling the mounting toll which his work in the gallows gradually took on his psyche and private life.

Full Review Source: Black Star News | comment Comment
06/05/07
Kam Williams
Kam Williams
Black Star News

Director Adrian Shergold and screenwriters Jeff Pope and Bob Mills take certain liberties with the facts of Pierrepoint's notorious career, but only to offer better insight into his complex personality.

Full Review Source: TV Guide's Movie Guide | comment Comment
06/01/07
Ken Fox
Ken Fox
TV Guide's Movie Guide

...a powerful pairing of work by two terrific actors [Spall and Stevenson].

Full Review Source: rec.arts.movies.reviews | comment Comment
06/16/07
Laura Clifford
Laura Clifford
rec.arts.movies.reviews

[The film's] grittiness instantly adds to the historically and socio-economically convincing picture of working-class Yorkshire in the last century.

Full Review Source: Globe and Mail | comment Comment
06/15/07
Liam Lacey
Liam Lacey
Globe and Mail
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

This measured bio-production might be viewed as a lesser companion piece to Vera Drake -- although in the case of Pierrepoint, all the period-piece tastefulness makes for a story more instructive than emotionally tangible.

Full Review Source: Entertainment Weekly | comment Comment
06/06/07
Lisa Schwarzbaum
Lisa Schwarzbaum
Entertainment Weekly
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

A completely engaging film. It's all about performance, and Timothy Spall is riveting as the earnest hangman. If you're desperate for a movie that has nothing to do with sequels or product placement, look no further.

Full Review Source: Jam! Movies | comment Comment
06/15/07
Liz Braun
Liz Braun
Jam! Movies

Morbid Goths and reserved Anglophiles can at last find some common ground

Full Review Source: New Times | comment Comment
05/31/07
Luke Y. Thompson
Luke Y. Thompson
New Times
 
 
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