You could be forgiven for thinking Spacey's film career had been dealt a mortal blow following the lifeless box office performances of K-Pax and The Shipping News.

Here he is, literally on death row, as disgraced college professor and leading capital penalty opponent David Gale.

He's got just a few days to convince cynical reporter Bitsey Bloom (Winslet) that he's innocent of the murder and rape of his colleague Constance (Linney).

If he doesn't, then he faces the long walk down the Green Mile.

She's not impressed until - during three two-hour interviews - he offers up the plausible theory that he's been framed by pro-hanging types, in a supremely ironic set-up.

This, after all, is Texas, where half of America's death row convicts meet their maker and the affable local courtesy masks a right-wing fervour of biblical proportions.

Gale's also upset quite a few people, including slimy redneck governor Hardin (Michael Crabtree), who he manipulated into a corner as a pro-Hitler apologist during a TV debate.

There's also a shady 'cowboy' in a pick-up who shadows Bitsey and her junior assistant Dusty (Matt Craven) as they firm up Gale's story.

Although this works as a powerful polemic, it's really an old-fashioned thriller, with Bitsey and Dusty putting together a case to get Gale off the hook.

There's a bit of a diverting sideswipe at political correctness (Gale's spiral from happy father to virtual down-and-out began following false rape allegations from a student).

But it works best when Parker sticks to the story of the complex chain of events leading to Gale counting the minutes away to the electric chair.

Spacey is excellent, both sympathetic and disquieting as the liberal who finds himself fighting his own cause from behind bars.

Occasionally, Parker yanks the heart-strings rather than gently tug them, and the cliches come thick and fast when Gale stumbles into the gutter.

However, there is a genuine tension in the narrative which will have you wondering whether this will be the death of David Gale as well as his life.

Tim Evans