A Gift is not always a Blessing

Rating: 10/10 (16 July 2002)

As in the "Shawshank Redemption," Frank Darabont creates another brilliant transformation of a Stephen King novel onto the big screen with an award nominating success. Although "The Green Mile" is three hours long, it is a film with complete character development. John Coffey (Michael Clarke Duncan), the murderer of two sisters, utters one of the taglines from this film when the posse confronts him. Coffey declares that "I tried to take it back, Boss but it was too late". John makes the same remark to Paul Edgecombe (Tom Hanks), the supervisor "Boss" of death row, thus giving him a "touch" of the truth. This tagline was a double-edged sword which Darabont honed to perfection. Not only was this comment mistaken as a confession, but also judged by the system to warrant the death penalty. Innocence was realized by Paul through John's gift: A touch of life. Paul was faced with a moral dilemma of knowing the truth,, but having to put John to death. Paul asks John, "What am I supposed to say when I stand before God on my judgement day and He asks why I killed a miracle of His. That it was my job." The irony is compounded when we learn that a gift is not always a blessing.