Breath-taking

Rating: 10/10 (12 December 1999)

I was a huge fan of The Green Mile book long before the movie came out, so my expectations were rather high. I hadn't seen The Shawshank Redemption (though it's on TV tonight so I'll most likely watch it)but since Tom Hanks is one of my favorite actors, and it's my favorite book, I pretty much knew to expect a kick-ass movie. I was not wrong.
The Green Mile opens with slo-mo yokels hunting for someone and then cuts to a close-up of an old man's face. I felt that the beginning with the old Paul Edgecomb (the narrator of the story)lagged quite a bit. It only lasted about 15 minutes, but I found myself getting restless. However, once it went into 1935 mode, I was completely there. The theatre my friends and I went to was only 1/2 full, but there wasn't a single dry eye in the house, no matter how adamently my "macho" guy friends will deny it. Naturally, my friends would take the most inopportune time to crack a joke. Nevertheless, this is definitely my favorite movie, and I have seen a helluva lot of movies.
I noticed the few changes from the book and movie, which were added in for dramatic effect and really worked. My one complaint is how there wasn't Brad Dolan, like in the book, the mean care-person of the senior's home that old-Paul is in, who is compared to Percy Wetmore, the main bad-guy in 1935.

People said that this movie was cliched, and maybe it was, but it didn't stop me from enjoyng it thoroughly. I personally, am glad that I read the book before the movie, and I suggest anybody who hasn't seen it yet does the same.
I wouldn't be surprised if Doug Hitchinson (who plays Percy Wetmore) or Michael Clarke Duncan (who plays the gigantic black killer/miracle on the block) got Best Supporting nods for the Oscars. But I think anybody in this movie deserves a nomination. The casting is impeccable.
10 *s out of 10