One miracle short...

Rating: 10/10 (7 January 2000)

The Green Mile is a picture about miracles which comes up one miracle short. John Coffey, a simple man with supernatural talents comes up with miracles for all whom he is called upon to help... except himself. Wrongfully convicted of an unspeakable murder, one keeps hoping for a better ending,
though perhaps, as we get to know him, we come to agree with his own assessment that this end is only merciful. His obvious talent for healing is mixed with the subtler, and ultimately more torturous ability to see into the souls of others, no matter how dark the vision may be.
Yet, if that were all there was to this picture, it would be a simplistic story, more worthy of a half hour run on the Twilight Zone than a 3 hour movie. The development and interplay of characters is what cunningly blinds you to the passing of time as you watch it. There is a tinge of mystery in the beginning, an unexpectedly emotional reaction to an old film which waits until nearly the end for its explanation. While you seek it, you meet characters who evoke a range of emotions from respect to sympathy, and in a couple cases disgust. You cannot quite say that each of these receives precisely as he deserves, for this would not be so, but then, it is not so in life too many times either. There are a few surprise twists, and even once the
initial mystery from the beginning is solved, there is still a slight twist at the end, as if to remind you who wrote this tale.
There are tiny elements from time to time that seem incongruous to the time frame of the plot, but on the whole, so minor that unless you go through it looking for them, you'll likely never notice. On the whole, The Green Mile is by and large the best picture this year. If this one doesn't take awards, the awards are an empty exercise.