Year:
1999
Studio:
Warner Brothers/Castle Rock Entertainment
Movie:
4/5
DVD:
1/5
Movie
When I think of Stephen King, I think horror, and not very good horror
either. Now, Shannon has told me that Mr King is actually quite a good
author who has written works in many different genres. That doesn't
change the fact that the first thing I think of is hack horror writer.
When I see that "The Green Mile", an excellent film, is based on a
Stephen King novel, I can either say "wow, Mr King *is* a good writer"
or I can say "Frank Darabont must be an awfully good screenwriter". And
I think it's the latter, because screenwriting is very hard and
adapting a novel to make a good film is quite an accomplishment. Still,
Mr King does deserve some credit for writing the novel in the first
place.
"The Green Mile" is the hallway of Cell Block E at some prison. It is
the last mile for a man on death row and since Cell Block E's floor is
green, you have The Green Mile. Paul Edgecomb (Tom Hanks) is the Block
Supervisor, ably assisted by Brutus Howell (David Morse), Harry
Terwilliger (Jeffrey DeMunn) and Dean Stanton (Barry Pepper). And also
not quite as ably assisted by Percy Wetmore (Doug Hutchison), a petty
and sadistic man who has high connections in the state government.
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Enter one John
Coffey (Michael Clarke Duncan), a rather simple-minded
black man convicted of killing two little girls. Heinous crime for such
a gentle soul. And he's also a man with a mystery, a secret that he
would tell if he were smarter, but since he's not I don't think it even
occurs to him that he's special.
This would be a fine movie without John Coffey, as the characters and
Cell Block E are clearly defined with their own plots and conflicts.
Add in Mr Coffey and this movie more than just a character study into
Depression Era prisons. It is a movie about miracles, life and death,
the choices we make and the people we are.
Actors
Tom Hanks should have won his fourth Academy Award for this role (he
should have also won for his role in Saving Private Ryan). He's that
good, playing the southern prison guard. Michael Clarke Duncan and Doug
Hutchison were also great, one playing the saint and the other the...
well, not quite devil. I really like Barry Pepper, though he had only a
small role in this movie.
DVD
Wide screen format movie. Cast and crew bios, theatrical trailer, and
the 10-minute behind the scenes documentary "Walking the Mile", which
has few scenes from the movie (and that's a good thing).
Recommendations
An excellent drama. At three hours you don't really notice it because
you are engrossed in the movie. Highly recommended. |