In watching "The Green Mile" again on TV... stunned

Rating: 9/10 (17 March 2004)

I rarely contribute to imdb.com. However, I teach film, write, and consult on scripts. I caught "The Green Mile" on TV the other night and was stunned. I had seen it before, yet the power of its story, especially personified by its characters, was mesmerizing.
Prison films are inherently a tough sell. Yet some of our best cinema has come from this very specific genre: "The Shawshank Redemption", "The Usual Suspects" (partially), "Cool Hand Luke", and, in fact, "A Man for All Seasons".
"The Green Mile", with its mix of realism, magic, and spirituality, represents the best in classic storytelling. That it could be captured on film so well, defying by modern marketing standards an instant attraction to young audiences and yet succeed in capturing them, gives testimony to great writing, filmmaking and acting.