Overall Rating
 Awesome: 53.36%
Worth A Look: 23.95%
Average: 10.5%
Pretty Bad: 5.88%
Total Crap: 6.3%
13 reviews, 160 user ratings
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| Green Mile, The |
by Greg Muskewitz
"As a precaution make sure to bring an unopened box of tissues!"
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Some may say it's a misfortune that I haven't seen Frank Darabont's only other directorial credit, the 1994 critically lauded, award-worthy "Shawshank Redemption." Just to note, I strongly look forward to watching the movie in my film as literature class. After having seen "The Green Mile," and having a little foreknowledge about "Shawshank Redemption," I'm interested in what Darabont's preoccupation is with prison. Don't take that as a criticism though, for the year wouldn't be a complete one if I hadn't had seen this amazing film.Like Hanks' previous film, "Saving Private Ryan," the movie starts off in present time and goes back to tell the film's focal story; this one leans back to about the middle to latter 1930s. Tom Hanks plays Paul Edgecomb, who runs block E in a Southern death row prison. He has a peeing problem -- most likely a kidney stone -- and it's a painful beginning for him as he must "accomodate" the new incoming "dead man walking." That inmate happens to be humongous; his name is John Coffey ("Just like the drink, but it's spelled not the same"), and he's played as wonderfully and humanely as possible by Michael Clarke Duncan (you might remember him from "Armageddon"). Not only is he huge and bulging with brute strength, he seems to be somewhat slow (not so much as he lets on, however); he's peaceful, respectful, and he's even afraid of the dark. How did a man like this end up on death row?
Supposedly it was because he was found with two white little girls dead in his arms, and presumably he was responsible for their deaths -- we're not sure, but we have a gut feeling about how true the incident is. To make a long movie short (3 hours, 10 minutes), leaving out intricate and interesting details which make up the film, it is discovered that John is a miracle worker. He has the ability to heal and fix things with the touch of a hand and a suck of breath. All that follows on John's part is some extraneous coughing, accompanied by the spitting up of some firefly/spermatozoa-like moths.
Darabont also worked on the screenplay, adapting it from Stephen King's series of "Green Mile" novellas. The story maximizes its effect by controlling each and every emotion you feel during the film. Unlike the pathos of "Music of the Heart," where you could feel the manipulation and controlling of your emotions, with "The Green Mile" it was wholly different. You might have known you were going to be affected, but you had no idea just in what way you would be, or how deeply. Never did it feel like your strings were being pulled just for the empty effect; the film affected you in more of an indirect way, and it made you discover that you really cared.
The one fault I find continously throughout the movie dealt with its length. I have no problem sitting through a 3-hour movie -- I similarly enjoyed "Beloved" and "Meet Joe Black" (but not "Titanic!") -- but as precise and well-plotted as much of the film was, a lot of it pitter-pattered around the story; it all played up to it. Instead of its being entirely focused around this miracle himself, the film built up a lot around Coffey, some of which went on a little bit too long. This extra information was not enough to qualify as excess baggage, though; the film just felt as if it was getting side-tracked along the way, but it always stayed dedicated to the books (which doesn't happen enough with most literary adaptations). Much of the film also concerned the character of Paul, the absorption of his knowledge, and his being the carrier-outer of duties, ideals, and help.
No doubt Hanks was superb as always, but he has now cornered himself into being Hanks as Hanks. It's becoming harder for him to shed his persona for roles, even though he adeptly changes accents, since we see him in caliber role after same caliber role. He deserves his praise, and he takes on roles most others could not fill the shoes of. It wouldn't surprise me for a second if he's (once again) nominated for an Oscar, but there are so many other excellent leading performances out there in search of recognition (Richard Farnsworth, "The Straight Story;" Bob Hoskins, "Felicia's Journey;" Kevin Spacey, "American Beauty;" Michael Polish, "Twin Falls Idaho"), it seems unfair to keep looking only at the surface and the easily accessible.
In actuality, "The Green Mile" belongs to Michael Clarke Duncan, who turns in one of the most heart-touchingly special performances to grace the screen in ages. I will be very disappointed if Duncan does not win Best Supporting Actor during the Oscars for his role as John Coffey, as I am sure he is my first and foremost nominee for the San Diego Film Critics Society Awards. This man and his character are just so likable, so universally outreaching and cathartic. He fills you with empathy, and you're not afraid to let it out, whether in tears or laughter; I choose to cry. Duncan and his character tear and tug at your heart, and if you have any sensibilities or feelings at all, you cannot help but try to reach back to him. You see the ending coming; it's inevitable, but it's done in such a non-compromising yet understandable way, you come to accept it.
Darabont's direction is clear and precise, and his script, filled sufficiently with humor to balance it with heart-felt emotion, is a whopper, and it packs quite a punch. The cast is large and very exceptional. With a 3-hour movie, you have a lot of time to introduce and build characters, that an enumeration hardly seems suffice. Contributors to the overall acheivement include David Morse, Michael Jeter, Graham Greene, Sam Rockwell (very good at being very bad and disgusting), Jeffrey DeMunn, Harry Dean Stanton, Doug Hutchison, Barry Pepper, James Cromwell, Bonnie Hunt, and an unrecognizable Patricia Clarkson.
The cinematography by David Tattersall was crisp, clean and sensual to the eyes -- a very pleasing picture to watch, if not maybe a little too dark occasionally. The music, by Thomas Newman, was for the most part subtle, but occasionally it felt played out and tedious.
It would be hard for me to understand someone who did not like this film. It surpasses mere adequacy in so many ways just within the first hour that it will undoubtably be praised to the highest extent. But the emotions, your senses of feeling and tenderness, are what get you -- just like in "The Straight Story" and "Felicia's Journey." You never feel like you're being led on or faked out; your emotional responses are genuine. I'm not embarrassed to cry during a movie, and I'm not embarrassed to admit it either; "The Green Mile" constantly had me in tears, trembling and sobbing. It's been a while since I've been this emotionally connected to a film and its characters, the last time being in 1997 with Atom Egoyan's "The Sweet Hereafter." Even more current films like "Simon Birch" or "The Straight Story" cannot quite hold up the potency that "The Sweet Hereafter" and now "The Green Mile" do.
For all the time, effort, and emotion you put into this film, never do you feel let down or taken advantage of. As a matter of fact, it may make you feel better when you realize just how much you care -- even about Mr. Jangles, the mouse.Final Verdict: A+
 del.icio.us 
link directly to this review at http://efilmcritic.com/review.php?movie=1849&reviewer=172
originally posted: 12/03/99 20:35:51
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USA
10-Dec-1999 (R)
DVD: 14-Nov-2006
UK
N/A
Australia
10-Feb-2000
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