Not a Character was Wasted

Rating: 10/10 (26 June 2014)

The Green Mile was a tremendous movie. That's no news flash as it was nominated for four Academies and it won a host of other types of awards. And let's not forget, as of this review, it sits at number 45 on IMDb's top 100.
The story was fantastically done. A man (perhaps) that can remove illness and injury from people and animals is arrested for murder. The dynamics of the story are further amalgamated by the fact that this man is Black during the Jim Crow era and he is accused of killing a little white girl.
The acting was superb. Tom Hanks around this time was just hitting homerun after homerun. Philadelphia in '93, Forest Gump in '94, Apollo 13 and Toy Story in '95, Saving Private Ryan and You've Got Mail in '98, then Toy Story 2 and The Green Mile in '99. All of his performances were stellar. But the X-factor, the dark horse in The Green Mile was, the now departed, Michael Clark Duncan. An ex-bodyguard turned actor, he did a wonderful job as John Coffey.
This movie evoked a myriad of emotions. Anger, joy, hope, and sadness. The various characters in this film all offered something. No character was wasted. They all made you take interest in one way or another. I know Shawshank Redemption is the most highly touted movie on this website but The Green Mile just may be better.