Directed by:
Frank DarabontScreenplay:
Frank DarabontCinematography:
David TattersallComposer:
Thomas NewmanCast:
Tom Hanks, David Morse, Bonnie Hunt, Michael Clarke Duncan, James Cromwell, Michael Jeter, Graham Greene, Doug Hutchison, Sam Rockwell, Barry Pepper (more)VOD (1)
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The story focuses on Paul Edgecomb (Tom Hanks), a Louisiana security guard who works on death row during the Great Depression. When John Coffey (Michael Clarke Duncan), a gigantic black man convicted of raping and murdering two white girls, joins the other prisoners on the row, Paul's life is forever altered. Coffey doesn't fit the mold of a psychopathic killer; he's kind, gentle, and afraid of the dark. As the story progresses, Edgecomb learns that there is something more than simple goodness to Coffey. (official distributor synopsis)
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Reviews (10)
Michael Mann has "Time is luck," Tom Hanks has "Earn it." Within the span of two years, Hanks starred in two similarly phenomenal films where the setting plays second fiddle, because the main role was a well-lived life. However, while in Saving Private Ryan he plays the rescuer, in The Green Mile he is the one being rescued. Frank Darabont has a masterful ability to work with emotions, doing so in a simple and understandable way (with music, editing and directing actors), yet it is not simplistic or overly sentimental with a carpet bombing approach towards the viewers. The film is full of nuances and grand gestures, from which everyone can take what they personally prefer.
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Frank Darabont is a common emotional blackmailer. To his credit, though, he certainly knows how to make the viewer use their handkerchiefs. I have to admit that during some scenes even a cynic like me blinked with a little more frequency than usual and that alone deserves recognition. Admittedly, here he mostly attacked my fixation on little rodents, and with this and more he succeeded in keeping me from being able to tear my eyes from the screen for the entire 188 minutes. However, the film does have a few, though perhaps not so pronounced, weaknesses. First of all, one can't help but compare it to The Shawshank Redemption (also by Darabont), compared to which it stands out for the lack of an absolutely clear separation between the black and white sides. The young guard, Percy, has absolutely no positive side and is simply a rotten swine from start to finish until it starts to feel unrealistic. On the other hand, the characters of Tom Hanks, his friends, or John Coffey (like coffee, only spelled differently) are paper-positive heroes from start to finish, good to watch and root for, but they’re missing a little dimension. But whatever, screw it. What movie holds its viewer's complete attention and rushes by like water with a running time longer than three hours? Definitely a timeless work.
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Paul Edgecomb meets John Coffey and I have no idea that the most painful film I have ever seen awaits me. Unbelievable power throughout the entire running time and a climax that I watched in awe, unable to catch my breath. There are not many films that have touched me more deeply, and yet I'm not sure if I could emotionally handle a second viewing. Every actor's performance is extraordinary, and another brilliant film by Frank Darabont that surpasses even the emotionally escalating source material by Stephen King.
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Stephen King is a genius. Frank Darabont is a genius. And whenever these two get together a perfect work of art comes to life that remains indelibly in the souls of those who see it. Similarly to The Shawshank Redemption, the story takes place in prison, more precisely in The Green Mile where those who were sentenced to death await execution. At the beginning of the story we meet old Paul Edgecombe who remembers the days of his youth and one of the prisoners. A person who had a wonderful gift. John Coffey (like coffee but spelled differently). And we become witnesses to one of the most touching story of all times.
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This is a kitsch tear-jerker that relentlessly and mercilessly tortures the audience for over three hours with its relentless pursuit of maximum pathos. It uses New Testament parables, miracles, the supernatural, compassionate glances, and spares no expense with the large number and intensity of its clichéd characters. A miracle happened to me, too, and it was that I somehow endured the three hour running time, but only just. In retrospect, I can not help but marvel at how anyone could be moved by such a matchless piece of trash, let alone how it could be so massively popular... I understand that lovers of severely kitsch tear-jerkers may find something to like here, but for me, it rather reaffirms, again and again, that the adaptations of King's books, with the exception of The Shawshank Redemption, do nothing for me. For the performances of Hanks and Duncan I give 1 star, a higher rating is out of the question as I can not think of anything constructive.
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