No matter what your stance on the death penalty, it was difficult not to admire how balanced Tim Robbins made his film DEAD MAN WALKING, the true story of convicted murderer Matthew Poncelet and his path to confession and discovery of spirituality through the help of a nun, played by Susan Sarandon in an Oscar-winning performance. The film presented all of the sides and never took sides, which made it even more brilliant. And there's no better example of its balance than in the final scene, when Poncelot finally walks into the death chamber to be killed for the murder of a young couple. We endure the entire process of the execution through all the minute details of exactly what goes on during a lethal injection execution. But the best part of the sequence is during these details of showing how the state is killing Poncelet in such a carefully controlled manner, scenes of the uncontrollable and horrifying rape and murder of the young couple are intercut with the execution. This constant cutting back and forth between both events shows that balance -- some would say it shows the balance of is it any better if the state murders someone or someone else murders someone. Others could come to the conclusion that the scene shows the proper carrying out of justice for the gruesome murder he committed. Either way, it's powerful filmmaking. One of the most haunting scenes shows the young couple superimposed over the dying body of Poncelot, almost as if the spirits of the young couple are watching over this execution. It's a haunting image that audiences don't soon forget.