Nonureva Really Surprised!

Ceticultsot Beautiful, moving film.

Beystiman It's fun, it's light, [but] it has a hard time when its tries to get heavy.

StyleSk8r At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

Jennifer Laske This is truly one of the most inspiring things I've seen in a long time. No human being is so far gone that love cannot bring them back. It is such a wonderful testimony to how human beings become more who they are meant to be through compassionate service to others. This is the message of the Gospel -- which Jesus spoke about but more importantly lived. This documentary demonstrates this so well without every becoming preachy or repetitive. What is also particularly moving is that the hospice volunteers often do not know what the other prisoners are in for (but the viewing audience does). They also have to deal with difficult patients without any thanks at times. Rather than giving up or even judging each other, these men persevered and grew more and more loving in the process. Watch it. It will stay with you.

artofleading Compassion, courage, forgiveness, redemption...these are some of the words that capture what this documentary embodies. None of us get out alive. We are all here for a very short time. These men have tried and succeeded to create a life that matters. I am moved and inspired by each of them. All of us have made terrible choices and done terrible things in our lives--none of us get to cast the first stone. The men imprisoned here were very articulate and deeply humble--they killed innocents, and led others into horrific lives, but they were given a tremendous gift in being allowed to touch the lives of other human beings with love and tenderness.

sddavis63 I appreciated the basic message here very much. It's set in the Louisiana State Prison - not a place where you normally expect to see much caring and compassion. It's where the worst of the worst go, as we're told early on. Most of them lifers; others serving extremely long prison terms; few with any hope of getting out. And because the inmates are serving extremely long sentences, they get old and they get sick and they need care. So Warden Burl Cain decided to set up a hospice program to provide care for those prisoners who were dying - staffed mostly by inmate volunteers.The basic message is great. You learn about caring by providing care; you learn about compassion by being compassionate. The inmates who participate in the volunteer program (who are carefully selected) are transformed by the experience, and often come to see their life and their crimes in a new light. Meanwhile, the dying inmates are shown both care and compassion while being allowed to die with dignity, and never to die alone if possible, since as the end of life comes imminent, 24 hour shifts of volunteers are established.It's a different look at life in prison. No gangs or prison rapes or anything like that. Just caring and compassion - dignity being both given and received in an environment in which there had likely been little caring or compassion. Narrated by Forest Whitaker, I thought the biggest flaw in this was that it was a little bit long, and became repetitive after a while. As I said, the basic message and lesson was simple, and maybe didn't need as much time as it received. But it's a very moving story. (6/10)

zimmerjl08 As someone who works with hospice patients, AND has worked with inmates in the past, I found Serving Life to be an absolute 360 from usual documentaries about incarcerated life. It really gives viewers a sense of what hospice is all about. To see people who have done such horrible things with their lives and to the lives of others, interact with people who dying who have done some of the same things, caring for the patients, and making sure they do not die alone--there really is something to be said about that. I am sure for the inmates participating in the program as volunteers, it is the most gut wrenching dose of reality for them. Serving Life was fantastic from beginning to end-to watch those inmates grow while others pass away and the changes hardened criminals go through is just amazing.