hoaky, but poignant

Rating: Null/10 (13 December 1999)

i have never read the book so i didn't know what to expect from the story in this movie. i only knew that i would witness something (hopefully) as masterful as the Shawshank Redemption. i am a fan of Frank Darabont's directing and vision, and a tremendous Thomas Newman fan. Cinematically speaking, i knew i was in for an aesthetic treat.
the part that surprised me was the degree of supernatural elements present in the movie. when John Coffey threw his head back and spewed out what looked like tiny bees escaped from the X-files set, i was taken aback and couldn't help but utter a "what?" to myself, with furled brows and a scrunched up nose. it distracted me somewhat, but i eventually got over it.
the only other complaints i have about this movie are a few lines of dialogue and a couple of bad edits. the characters themselves were vastly intriguing, and i was especially engrossed with the performances of Hanks, Morse, and Pepper. there was a real sense of humility and compassion among the characters that brought home a sense of how day-to-day living continued through the Depression. clearly, priorities of that era differ from those of today. this theme tied in very well with the take-home message in the movie: that everyone walks their own Green Mile, and no one ever knows how long it really is.
the botched execution scene hurt me terribly, and i felt emotions run through to my very bones. the thought of Delacroix's physical pain and the mental pain (from Wetmore's last-minute Mouseville revelation)broke my heart, truly. not just for Delacroix, but for Edgecombe and the other guards who could only imagine how horribly that man's life ended.
Percy Wetmore. for the first time, in a long time, i frightened myself with the degree of hatred i felt for an antagonist. i chuckled to myself when Wetmore wet himself and couldn't help a delicious sense of vengeance toward him during "payback"

all around, best casting i've seen this year. nice to see many of the very same actors we saw in Shawshank. all performances were spectacular, and real on-screen chemistry seeped off the walls. these guys were inside the story, and the result was perfection. special kudos to Barry Pepper: engrossing to watch him on the screen, for strength of his acting talents and ease on the eyes.