Truly affecting

Rating: 10/10 (7 April 2005)

The Green Mile -
Spoilers herein
I decided to see the Green Mile right after finishing the novel by Stephen King, to see if the movie lived up to it's glowing reputation. While I didn't doubt that the film would be good, I had my doubts if it could match the greatness of the novel, which I was truly blown away by. Needless to say... the movie is easily as good as the book, if not better, which is an occurrence that seems to happen less and less in movies these days. But with the Green Mile, director Frank Darabont and a superb cast have put together a truly touching and affecting story.
Darabont, who also transferred the novel to a screenplay, is wise enough to know that Stephen King's original works are good enough without changing, and so he keeps virtually all spoken lines and events EXACTLY (and I'm not exaggerating) the same as in the novel, except for the odd time when he adds an extra line of dialogue or two to help clarify something the narrator originally said. This approach actually works out really well; it might have seemed patchy and awkward in a worst case scenario.
Fortunately, the excellent cast is too experienced to let that happen. Tom Hanks, in one of his best performances yet, is wonderful as Paul Edgecomb, a prison guard on death row who comes across events he was by no means ready for. But it is safe to say that he is overshadowed (in more ways than one) by the simply wonderful performance given by Michael Clarke Duncan as John Coffey, Edgecomb's prisoner who turns out to have 'special gifts'. It's a complex enough role as is, but Duncan brings so much more to Coffey than just crying and acting dim. Beneath Coffey's outward simple mindedness, ("The name's John Coffey. Like the drink, 'cept not spelled the same.") there is a searing intelligence waiting just under the exterior, just enough for us to notice. Duncan really turns Coffey into a sympathetic character, and from the beginning, it is impossible to believe that Coffey was capable of raping and murdering two little girls - so much are we compelled to care about him. It is beyond me how Duncan could have lost out at the Oscars that year, one of the most potent examples, in my opinion, of how the Academy is more about politics than artistic merit.
David Morse is terrific as 'Brutal' Howell, another guard and close friend of Edgecomb's. Morse perfectly personifies the character from the novel, and perfectly plays the role of the kind and sensitive man beneath a huge, tough exterior. Doug Hutchison is wonderfully despicable as Percy Wetmore, the spoiled brat of a prison guard, who no one can complain about, because of his political connections. So evil is Percy to all the helpless prisoners (who we care for a lot more than him) that we can't help but hate him, and feel truly satisfied when he is confined to a mental hospital at the end from being touched by Coffey, who referred to him as a 'bad man'. Sam Rockwell plays a wonderful psycho as 'Wild Bill' Wharton, going gleefully over the top, and still not seeming out of place. I was also very impressed by the performance of the late Michael Jeter as french prisoner Eduard Delacroix, he gave an excellent performance, and had exactly the same appearance and mannerisms as the character did in the novel. All around, highly impressive performances.
The only noticeable flaw in The Green Mile is that with it's lengthy running time, the story seems a little slow paced at times, and too quickly paced at others. Arlen Bitterbuck, (played by Graham Greene) who was a significant character in the novel, is reduced to only once scene of dialogue, and two quick shots of him sitting in his cell in earlier scenes. The only possible reason I could find for shortening Bitterbuck's screen time so significantly would be to quicken the pace of the movie more, but since other parts drag, this intent doesn't exactly work. It's not a huge issue, but it's one that was bothering me as I watched the film.
There's no doubt that The Green Mile is a highly impressive piece of work, or that it carries heavy emotional impact. An excellent storyline from the excellent Stephen King novel is updated into a truly excellent movie. Now, if only we were able to say that more often...
-9.5/10