Haunting Tale Of Beauty And Cruelty On Death Row

Rating: 7/10 (19 November 2006)

Paul Edgecomb is the head guard on death row in a Tennessee prison in 1935. His latest charge is John Coffey, a simple-minded giant who seems to have a unique ability to heal. As he gets to know Coffey, Paul becomes convinced he is an innocent man. How can he supervise the execution of a saint ?
Based on a great book by Stephen King, this is a wonderful tale of innocence, corruption and faith in the bleakest of settings. What makes the story so touching is the realness and humanity of the characters, despite the fantastical elements and the extreme situation. Paul and Brutal are heroic, Percy is loathsome, Billy is an obscenity and John is angelic, yet all of their actions resonate and they never seem far-fetched or hokey. These five performances - Hanks, Morse, Hutchison, Rockwell and Duncan - are crucial to the suspension of disbelief and are all superb, and all are note-perfect. Duncan in particular is astonishing in his depth and sensitivity; as his initials suggest, he is Jesus - healing the sick, shouldering an impossible burden and dying for the sins of others. The great cast also features fine supporting performances from Cromwell, Clarkson, Sadler, Sinise and Greer as the Ancient Mariner who recounts the tale in the prologue and epilogue. Darabont has carefully adapted the novel (originally published in old-fashioned serial form) to squeeze all the emotion out of the story, and many scenes pack an incredible wallop; the three electrocutions are almost unwatchable, not because they're overtly violent, but because the movie has made us get to know the victims far too well. I'm not sure if I have any real criticisms of this film, but it doesn't touch me as deeply as I want it to. Perhaps that's because the material is very dark (John sums it up when he says, "I'm tired of people being ugly to each other Â… it's like pieces of glass in my head all the time."), or that it invites comparison with Darabont's earlier King adaptation, The Shawshank Redemption, which I'd rate as one of the ten best movies of the nineties. Technically, it's beautifully made. It is a long film (188 minutes) given the scope of the story, and languidly paced, but correctly so to build the characterisation. It's still a must-see though. And - sorry to do this - Duncan is really six-feet-five, only one inch taller than Morse (Brutal) and two inches shorter than Cromwell (the Warden). That's the magic of the movies !!