"Please boss, don't put that thing over my face, don't put me in the dark. I's afraid of the dark."

Rating: 9/10 (4 May 2020)

Writer/director Frank Darabont returns after the amazing THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION to enter the same setting; the American prison system. Although like SHAWSHANK based on a Stephen King novel it is a very different film.
An old prison guard named Paul Edgecomb (Dabbs Greer) spins a fabulous yarn about his younger years when he was running 'The Green Mile' which was death row in Louisiana. Really it is about his meeting with a new inmate in John Coffey (great performance from Michael Clarke Duncan who was nominated for an Oscar).
This is not your ordinary Stephen King movie. It is not in the realm of horror, but the character of John Coffey is a very King character to me. Something rare in film happens here. It may happen on a much more regular role in books, but in film you generally have 2 hours to show your characters, show your plot and solve whatever problem happens in the film. This one runs at over 3 hours and never seems to be long, drawn out or too long. The rare thing is all major characters are really fully developed before you really know much about John Coffey. All characters are running when Coffey's character and story take over the film. It takes some major ingredients to do that; time, great acting, great direction and a great story.
Tom Hanks is amazing as the younger version of Paul Edgecomb and is surrounded by some great talent as well with the likes of David Morse as his working companion Brutal, Sam Rockwell as the crazy inmate Wild Bill, Graham Greene as inmate Arlen Bitterbuck and Harry Dean Stanton as the kooky Toot-Toot just to name a few. As well I think Doug Hutchison does an incredible job playing a character such as prison guard Percy. You should grow to hate him and perhaps not show him any sympathy as his character reaches a horrifying and ironic end.
So, you don't need to be a Stephen King fan or Tom Hanks fan to really enjoy this film (even though I would consider myself in both of those camps). You just need to enjoy character driven and interesting stories.