Moral Analysis

Rating: 10/10 (21 September 2019)

---THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS---

The Green Mile is a film about the miracles of John Coffey (Michael Clarke Duncan) told through the eyes of Paul Edgecomb (Tom Hanks). The movie takes place in a block of a prison ward meant for prisoners that have been sentenced to death for their crimes. One such inmate has been brought in for the murder of two little girls, John Coffey. Through the events that unfold, Paul Edgecomb and his coworker Brutus Howell (David Morse) start to realize that John Coffey may not have been the murder and ultimately discover that, instead, another inmate, "Wild Bill" Thorton (Sam Rockwell) was the true murderer. Events unfold and the conclusion leaves the viewer considering the moral conundrum faced within the film. This moral conundrum ends up being the true focus and theme of the movie and that is the issue of wrongful conviction.
Based on the report that Paul received, he too believed John Coffey to be the murderer, however saw him as a simpleton as he was a little slow and didn't seem to have much of an education. This alone could likely be a reference to the wrongful conviction of many of the mentally ill that happened in the past of the U.S. There are cases throughout history of the mentally ill being a target for demonization as well as criminal blame simply because they were in the wrong place at the wrong time. Further in, after witnessing some the miracles John performs, Paul begins to question if such a person could really turn out to be the murderer he was convicted as until ultimately, he saves the Warden's (James Cromwell) wife (Patricia Clarkson) from a brain tumor and "shows" Paul what really happened when the children were murdered. Despite Paul seeing the truth, they have no proof that John didn't commit the murder beyond the vision he shared. This is potentially a reference to how recently, and during the time the book was written, people were likely wrongly convicted for crimes and sentenced to death. We can look up cases where 40 years after a life sentence or a death sentence has been issued, emerging technologies have been able to find new evidence that proves that many of these people were innocent, such as DNA testing and much more thorough and less contaminating investigation methods. With this woven in theme, even if you ignore it, The Green Mile is still an amazing film with great cinematography, using the sheer size of John Coffey as a plot point to people being intimidated by him, creating the gentle giant persona, to the careful treatment of dialogue, asking it so you're on the edge trying to make sure you don't miss a single detail. I believe the film is still a good example of not judging someone by what you hear or by their looks since they may turn out not to be the monster you've been told they are.