Ensemble Performance

Rating: 10/10 (30 September 2004)

Ensemble Performance (n): Wherein all elements of a stage play, film or other suchlike entertainment deliver together, all participants contributing equally as their characters allow, creating a singular and powerful presentation.
The above is my own "definition," if you will, but that's how I feel about The Green Mile. From Tom Hanks to Michael Clarke Duncan to David Morse to Doug Hutchenson in the major roles to elements as small as James Cromwell's warden or Gary Sinese's cameo, no one and I mean NO ONE "phones it in," or merely goes through the motions.
Also appreciated was the pace of the film. Some complain that three hours is too long. I submit that to allow the characters to unfold at the pace of the South in the 1930's, to get the depth and breadth of them, three hours was necessary. For myself, I started watching it of a Saturday evening, thinking I'd "spot" through it. The three hours flashed by. Frank Darabont creates the reality of a Louisiana prison in the 1930's, sets the stage with the characters of Paul Edgecomb, Brutus "Brutal" Howell, Eduard Delecroix, Arlen Bitterbuck and Percy Wetmore. Into this menage he weaves the magic of a simple black man, John Coffey ("like the drink, only not spelt the same"). The impact Coffey has on Paul Edgecomb, on Warden Moores's wife, on a mouse named Mr. Jingles, indeed on the entire Green Mile ... is a source of wonder in the story-telling that makes this period piece the marvel that it is.
Also very worthy of mention is Thomas Newman's brilliant score, which brings blues and prisoners' chants and multiple flavors and nuances to the table, as much a part of the ensemble as the above-listed characters.
Keep in mind, this is no action-packed, whiz-bang, shoot-em-up piece of eye-candy. It's a beautiful, detailed and subtle piece, not much like any other piece of Stephen King I know of other than "The Shawshank Redemption" (which I've yet to see, believe it or not!). And it's a piece I've repeatedly enjoyed for the quality of its production and the power of its performances.
I recommend it heartily. Please enjoy.