The Green Mile was Frank Darabont’s (The Mist, The Majestic) first movie following The Shawshank Redemption, a riveting prison movie that has found a permanent spot on many critics and movie fan’s top ten of all-time lists. The expectations were high for The Green Mile, if not altogether unrealistic. Like The Shawshank Redemption, this movie was set almost exclusively in prison. Like The Shawshank Redemption, this movie was based on a Stephen King novel. Like The Shawshank Redemption, this movie was set somewhere in middle America, reasonably close to the time frame of World War I, though neither of these movies ever really talks about any war. The Green Mile was set in 1932, while The Shawshank Redemption was set in 1946. The expectations for The Green Mile might have been unrealistic. I say this because of the reasons mentioned above, but also because it starred Tom Hanks (Forrest Gump, Philadelphia), Hollywood’s #1 leading man at the time, who was fresh off of receiving his 5th Academy Award Nomination for Best Actor after his performance in Saving Private Ryan. While The Green Mile is not as good as The Shawshank Redemption (my favorite film of all time, at the time of this review), it is still an incredible movie that everybody should see at least once.

While many will be turned off by its three-hour and seven-minute run time, I strongly encourage anybody not to let this factor in their decision to watch the movie. For a film that has almost no action and is set almost entirely in a single prison block, you would think that, regardless of how good it is, it would drag. That is not the case at all. The story pulls you in from the first scene and doesn’t let go of its grip until its emotional ending. Darabont, who also wrote the screenplay for the movie, is a masterful storyteller. The acting is tremendous. The choice of Hanks as the lead was perfect. But, most impressive was the performance of relatively new actor Michael Clarke Duncan (Sin City, The Scorpion King). Duncan did have a minor role in the blockbuster Armaggedon, but, for the most part, this was his introduction to moviegoers across the globe. He was terrific as John Coffey, a convicted felon sentenced to death row for the murder of two young girls. His Academy Award Nominee for Best Supporting Actor was much deserved. The movie probably would have been very good with a different actor for Coffey. However, Clarke’s performance elevated the film from very good to superb.

The Green Mile is a block of the Cold Mountain Correctional Facility. The word mile relates to death row, while green refers to the forest green tiles that line the floor. The head guard of the cell block is Paul Edgecomb (Hanks), a mild-mannered, kind-hearted, but firm and fair man. Paul is respected immensely by his loyal fellow guards Brutus (David Morse – Disturbia, The Slaughter Rule), Dean (Barry Pepper – *61, Flags of Our Fathers), and most inmates on death row. While the inmates are all convicted murderers, their unique personalities add to the ambiance of death row. Some are what you would expect of someone on death row, that being cold-hearted killers with little or no remorse evoking little if any sympathy from us. But we also get to see the other side of some of the inmates. We get to know them so well that we believe them when they remorsefully tell a guard that if they could take it back, they would in a second.

John Coffey’s arrival on the block changes the lives of many. He is a physical giant, towering over the 6’4″ Brutus, with arms that would have made the world’s best prizefighter jealous. Understandably, Edgecomb and his fellow guards are cautious of this man, if not downright fearful. Coffey’s facial expressions alone show that he is more scared than any guard should be. He promises no trouble, calls Edgecomb “boss,” and wants to know how much light shines in his cell at night because he fears the dark. Coffey is a man of mystery, too, as the guards and fellow inmates soon learn. The person we first believe him to be might not be that person. We need the entire three hours to feel this, though. Cutting even a minute to shorten this movie would have been detrimental to the story. The Green Mile is a must-see movie.

Plot 8/10
Character Development 10/10
Character Chemistry 10/10
Acting 10/10
Screenplay 9/10
Directing 10/10
Cinematography 10/10
Sound 8/10
Hook and Reel 8.5/10
Universal Relevance 7.5/10
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