The Green Mile (1999) Tom Hanks, David Morse, Bonnie Hunt, Michael Clarke Duncan, James Cromwell, Michael Jeter, Graham Greene, Doug Hutchison, Sam Rockwell, Barry Pepper, Jeffrey DeMunn, Patricia Clarkson, Harry Dean Stanton, Dabbs Greer, Eve Brent, William Sadler, Gary Sinise. Written by Frank Darabont, based on the novel by Stephen King. Directed by Frank Darabont. 187 minutes. Rated R, 3.5 stars (out of five stars)
Review by Ed Johnson-Ott, NUVO Newsweekly www.nuvo-online.com Archive reviews at http://us.imdb.com/ReviewsBy?Edward+Johnson-Ott
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"The Green Mile" is a good movie. At times, it is very good. But it's not a great movie. I say this up front to try and balance out some of the grandiose hype generated by the studio's publicity machine. For months, "The Green Mile" has been touted as the most likely film to sweep next year's Academy Awards. Last weekend, pre-release ads in Sunday papers across the country upped the ante, with Paul Wunder, Patty Spitler, Susan Granger and other notorious quote whores calling the movie "the most extraordinary entertainment event of the year," "the best film of 1999," and "a masterpiece."
Were I cranking out a blurb for the movie, it would simply read "'E.T.' on Death Row." Not that there's anything wrong with that. Overall, director Frank Darabont ("The Shawshank Redemption") does a fine job translating Stephen King's bestseller to screen, although he focuses so much on whimsy and magic that the horrific execution scenes almost seem out of place, which is pretty odd for a story named after the green tile walkway leading to the electric chair.
The bulk of the film takes place in 1935, centering on Paul Edgecombe (Tom Hanks), a guard on a Louisiana death row cell block who spends a lot of time grimacing in pain due to a severe bladder infection. Things change with the arrival of John Coffey (Michael Clarke Duncan), a hulk of a man sentenced to die for the murder of two little girls. The guards soon learn that, despite his physically imposing appearance, Coffey is a timid sort with the soul of a child. Edgecombe discovers even more when the gentle giant abruptly reaches out and cups the guard's crotch. The man isn't copping a feel: Coffey is a bona fide healer. He magically absorbs Edgecombe's infection, then releases the bad hoodoo by coughing up computer-generated fly-like things that dissolve into the air above him.
Despite clocking in at a whopping three hours, the bulk of "The Green Mile" glides by, thanks to some extremely likable cast members, including a cute-as-a-button pet mouse. The film drags only during the cumbersome contemporary segments that bookend the story and when Hanks drops by for a needless visit with fellow "Forrest Gump" veteran Gary Sinise.
"The Green Mile" works best when Darabont focuses on Edgecombe and his wife Jan (Bonnie Hunt); humane fellow guards Brutus "Brutal" Howell (David Morse), sensitive newcomer Dean Stanton (Barry Pepper) and seasoned vet Harry Terwilliger (Jeffrey DeMunn); and their interactions with equally likable inmates Eduard Delacroix (Michael Jeter - far less annoying than usual), Arlen Bitterbuck (Graham Greene) and especially Michael Clarke Duncan, ole E.T. himself. Duncan gives an absolutely convincing performance as the massive man-child: he is so lovable that you want to take him home and treat him to about a hundred Happy Meals.
Unfortunately, the aforementioned cast is so charming that the cell-block often feels less like death row and more like an extra large version of Andy and Barney's Mayberry jail. When Darabont cuts to the demented exploits of his two cartoonish villains, sadistic guard Percy Wetmore (Doug Hutchison) and whacked-out prisoner "Wild Bill" Wharton (Sam Rockwell), I half expected Aunt Bea to show up and settle them down with some biscuits and apple butter.
The notion of a cozy, folksy death row seems especially bizarre during the execution scenes. Imagine Barney Fife saying, "Come on, Otis, we're gonna take a little stroll down the hall, hook you up to 'Old Sparky,' then fry you like a Tater Tot," and you'll get the idea. One electric chair sequence midway through the film is particularly graphic and appropriately revolting. I would like to believe that images such as these might give pause to proponents of capital punishment, but if those folks can't grasp the concept that, if the premeditated murder of another person is wrong, we shouldn't collectively agree to do it, then visual aids probably won't help.
If you don't find the leapfrogging between homespun moments and grisly deaths too disconcerting, then you should enjoy "The Green Mile" as a cheesy, but absorbing fable with some dandy acting. I did, although in the latter portions of the film, when Darabont drops the "E.T." motif in favor of ham-handed religious allegory (John Coffey = J.C. = guess who?), I found myself hoping for Coffey to lean out of the screen, touch my forehead with his glowing fingertip and intone, "Go home."
© 1999 Ed Johnson-Ott
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