“”The Life of David Gale”” can best be described as a three-star film with a four-star ending. While the trailers give us the strange feeling they have already seen this film, those who attend will be glad to know that “”The Life of David Gale”” throws more than a few twists into the cookie cutter, “”Scooby-Doo”” thriller plot that Hollywood has worn down to a frail and rusty nub.

The freshman screenplay was written by Charles Randolph and is set in his native Texas, the center of the nation’s ever-boiling capital punishment debate. While the film is centered on the death penalty, it is not a film that falls on one side of the issue any more than it tries to maintain its neutrality. The film uses the issue as a vehicle and is first and foremost a thriller, while its political message is secondary.

While the story maintains the audience’s interest throughout, distractions came via Kate Winslet, who is trying to act again. She lacks a certain maturity that is essential to her character, and has several weak points throughout the film, which is otherwise unmarred in the acting category. Kevin Spacey (David Gale) plays a difficult role with precision, giving a performance more “”K-Pax”” than “”American Beauty.”” While some of his scenes come off as hackneyed (see the trailers), they are rare and come by virtue of the first-try screenplay, brilliant in the grand sense but lacking polish.

The film also tries to include several independent elements in what is otherwise a very Hollywood production. This is evident in the brief flashes of words like “”guilty”” and “”justice”” scribbled on notepad paper that come several times throughout the film. These elements seem misplaced and come off like a boy band covering a Radiohead song. As Spacey pointed out in a question-and-answer session after the film, Universal (who released the film) makes its money on films like “”XXX”” and “”The Hulk.”” The film is hurt by trying to be something that it is not — namely, an innovative, independent film. Rather than running with a strong plot and good star power, director Alan Parker got tripped up trying to do too much. While some of the film’s strong visual content is necessary, some of it is gratuitously horrifying and redundant, showing the audience what they just finished thinking.

When Spacey was asked what he tries to accomplish in doing a film, he explained that he felt that films would usually fall into one of three categories: one where no one remembers the character’s name, one where the film can be viewed multiple times and one where films stand the test of time. “”The Life of David Gale”” will probably fall into the second bin. Its exploration of numerous interesting philosophical ideas merits a second look. One audience member hoped to skip the second viewing and asked Spacey about the true meaning of one of his films. Spacey responded with a child-like grin, “”Look, I can’t hand it to you on a silver platter; if you want that, go see a Ben Affleck movie.””

The Life of David Gale

****

Starring Kevin Spacey, Kate Winslet and Laura Linney

In theaters Feb. 21

Rated R