excellent

Rating: 9/10 (11 December 1999)

Should this movie get Oscar nominations? Yes. Should Tom Hanks get an Oscar nomination for his performance in this movie? Definitely. In short, this movie was very moving and makes some powerful statements about racial equality and capital punishment.
Based on a novel written by Stephen King, this movie deals with the internal conflicts that a particular prison guard, Paul Edgecomb (Tom Hanks), faces as he meets an inmate that is on deathrow that he believes is innocent. John Coffey (Michael Duncan) is the gentle giant that has been accused of killing two little girls and is scheduled to die in the electric chair. He is brought into deathrow where Hanks' character first meets him but as the movie progresses, Hanks character begins to see the true nature of this man. Coffey comes across as a gentle, caring, yet simple man and to complicate things, he poses the ability to give life which ultimately casts doubt as to the man's ability to harm another living creature. Throughout the rest of the movie you get to see the relationships that develop between this inmate and all the guards as well as with some of the other inmates. This movie does bear some resemblance to "The Shawshank Redemption" but only slightly. The issues that are dealt with here are a little heavier in nature.
This is one of the few movies that I have seen all year where the acting in it was extremely strong. There was not a single character that I found portrayed ineffectively or unrealistically. A couple of the more notable performances (aside from Hanks) came from David Morse (character of prison guard, Brutus Howell) and Michael Jeter (deathrow inmate, Eduard Delacroix). Both of these men brought a sense of feeling to their character that the audience truly felt. This was also the first film that I have seen Michael Duncan in and was pleasantly surprised. First of all, this man is HUGE. You sort of have a glimpse of his enormity in the commercials and trailers but you definitely get the full effect of it when you see him stand next to David Morse or James Cromwell. Both of these two men are about 6'6" but are dwarfed when Duncan walks into the scene with them. Aside from his "physical" presence, this man gave a stirring performance in this movie, especially at the end in a lengthy dialogue sequence between Hanks and himself.
The are a couple of things that I do have to point out. This movie is very long (3+ hours) and you definitely feel it. There are no action sequences but there is a lot of dialogue that you have to pay attention to and this attributes to the lengthiness that you feel. In addition, quite a bit of the cinematography was shot in very low light. Whether this was done on purpose to enhance authenticity or just due to poor lighting, I found it occasionally difficult to see what was going on.
Overall, this movie was excellent. Be prepared to be cerebrally engaged as this movie definitely makes you think. Also, bring a box of tissues. You will definitely leave the theatre with a tear in your eye...or at the very least, a lump in your throat.