The Green-Blue Mile

Rating: 10/10 (3 March 2017)

There are few movies I have watched that have completely indulged me in my emotions. The movie "The Green Mile" is based around a cell block where all of the prisoners are on death row, particularly a larger than life black man named John Coffey. John has been convicted of brutally murdering two young girls, and is by all means is intimidating simply by appearance. This movie is truly magnificent and movie because of its characters and their situations that are portrayed throughout the film.
Something director Frank Darabont did impeccably was make the audience feel like they had a personal connection to the prisoners in the movie. The movie progresses with the prisoners and prison guards getting to know each other. In this period, prisoners are not portrayed as wastes of society, but rather as actual human beings. Prisoners and prison guards joke around humorously as friends and not enemies, and in these moments the audience feels almost as if they are there, having a good time with the characters in the movie. When each of the characters is getting along and crack jokes at each other it makes the audience almost forget about the fact that these prisoners are on death row. This is possibly what makes this movie just so moving, because throughout the movie each of the prisoners have their executions carried out via electric chair by the very people whom we have seen them laugh and story tell with. I would be lying if I said I didn't shed a few tears and feel my heart swell up each time Paul (Tom Hanks) had to put his past relationship with a prisoner aside and read the prisoner his rights and conviction from prison guard to prisoner.
Each of the prison guard's jaws dropped when John Coffey first stepped out of the police vehicle that drove him to the prison, the car bouncing aggressively due to the huge transfer of weight. John is black, well over six four and looks like he belongs in a bodybuilding contest and is treated as if he were literally a walking weapon. However after multiple situations of John showing a harmless childlike personality, whether it be calling each of the prison personnel "boss" or requesting that the lights be left on because he gets scared of the dark, all of the prison guards, along with the audience realizes that John is harmless. In fact, John is not only harmless, but actually the opposite of harmful in curing, because he has the power to fix any physical problems, such as Paul's urinary infection or a prison guard's wife's cancer. Moments like these showed the beauty in life as Paul finally overcame a setback he had for years and the prison guard and his wife were brought back together due to the termination of the previously terminal cancer. Late in the movie it is revealed that John was found with the two girls in his hands not because he killed them, but because he was trying to use his powers to revive them. It was no mistake that the single person in the entire movie who had the power to cure any physical injury and who happened to be polite and as harmless as a butterfly was the man who was unrightfully executed. After watching this movie I had my opinion swayed on one thing in particular, which is the death sentence. Aside from watching numerous characters brutally electrocuted to death by people they would call friends in a different environment, John Coffey's scenario could have single handedly shown me that this punishment is by no means right.
John's execution scene has to be one of the most emotional scenes I have ever been fortunate enough to watch. The scene was filled with tension and regret, sorrow and helplessness, as the group of prison guards are forced to execute John, who was strapped down to a small chair, in front of a small audience knowing well that the man they are about to kill is innocent.
This movie was by all means an extremely emotional roller-coaster. There are happy moments that make it seem like there isn't a problem in the world, and then scenes that make you want to just sit in a corner with a blanket and cry. "The Green Mile" is a beautiful movie that shows the greatness in life along with the tragedy that comes with death, which is portrayed through the characters of the film. I would recommend this movie to anyone who can squeeze the three hour run time into their schedule and who is prepared to be seen with red eyes and tear stains down the side of their face for the rest of the day.