Powerful and faithful to the letter of Stephen King's novel

Rating: 10/10 (11 December 1999)

Many critics seem to have gone into this film with more than a little contempt for all of its inescapable Oscar hype. If anyone could be accused of over-hyping 'The Green Mile,' it would be the journalists that drooled over the film's arrival. It's a pity that they give the film a lashing over their own impossibly lofty expectations.
Frank Darabont does not hide his love for, and faith in, Stephen King's serial novel in both his screenplay and its direction. Much of the dialogue was cut and paste from the book's pages. The canter and tangibility of King's storytelling seems to be projected on the screen almost magically. And much like King's novels, you don't want to put this one down at any time during its much-talked about length.
And for all its worth, the same critics would gripe about the injustices of the Hollywood system if the film clocked in at only two.
I want to thank Mr. Darabont for generously giving us every one of those 180 minutes. More bang for your buck, I tell you.
Every performance and subplot gave strength and momentum to the film's final blow, and not one of them should have been sacrificed because a few cranky critics would run low on Preparation-H before the show.
Should you see this film in the theater? Yes. Does it deserve the Oscar nominations? Yes, and then some.
Stop reading all the reviews. Get off the Internet already and into the nearest Cineplex. You'll be a better person for it, I promise.