One of the best movies I've seen in a while

Rating: 10/10 (24 October 2000)

The Green Mile is an outstanding movie, one that leaves you with a bittersweet feeling that moves more toward the bitter in a courageous manner. The performances are powerful, without exception. Some of the actors in the movie are usually used as heavies in other films, especially David Morse, but are played against type to great effect. In fact, almost everyone in this movie is a well-known actor from featured roles in the past. Harry Dean Stanton is as excellent as he ever is in a small, comedic role as the exceution stand-in. I felt that Sam Rockwell (hilarious as Crewman #6 in Galaxy Quest) was outstanding as Wild Bill, a psychotic who provides both comedy and stark evil. Hanks provides his usual wonderful, understated performance. But Michael Clarke Duncan is a revelation. For a man as massive as he is, he moves with a gentle grace, and for a man whose career has just started to take off, he steals the focus in every scene. Pretty darn difficult to do with these actors, and to their credit, they don't fight it -- they allow Duncan to be the focus.
The story? Well, the movie uses a framing/flashback technique to allow us to go back in time to the Depression and a Louisiana death row. Almost all of the film takes place in a confined, brown, depressing corridor with green Linoleum and caged men on both sides. The main story starts out when John Coffey (Duncan) is brought into the Mile, convicted of raping and murdering two little girls (and can you remember what Bruce Willis movie the father was in??). The guards, gentlemen all with one exception, begin to sense that there's something very unusual about John.
The interplay between the guards and the inmates serve to remind us that there's humanity on both sides, and the two antagonists (one guard, one inmate) seem to be an allegory for the dehumanization that's occurred on both sides in modern times. Make no mistake, this movie is anti-death penalty, but its points are made in measured tones, with respect to both sides (I believe). It is no diatribe.
The final scenes are so simple and powerful that they brought tears to my eyes and have haunted me for days. This is definitely one of the best movies I've seen in a long, long time. If possible, watch it on DVD for the best effect.