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Review #90: The Green Mile
John Coffey, a giant of a man, is found with the bodies of two dead sisters. Coffey and the girls respectively, are covered in blood and Coffey himself is distraught and screaming that he "Tried to take it back, but it was too late".
What makes things worse for the giant that is John Coffey, is that this is the year 1935 and is the deep south of the USA, Coffey is African American and the dead girls are white.
Coffey is immediately arested, charged and imprisoned on death row for the double rape and murder of the children.
While on death row, the prison guards and other inmates begin to realise that Coffey isn't quite what he has been accused of being, and a great doubt is cast over the circumstances of his arrest.
Delving deeper into the mystery, the guards discover something incredible about the apparent rapist/murderer that will change the course of not just their lives, but the lives of those they love too.
Another Stephen King novel brought to the screen, once again by the brilliant director Frank Darabont, The Green Mile is seconded only by the Shawshank Redemption in terms of King adaptions.
Darabont just seems to know how King's novels work, and this outing for the director doesn't disappoint.
The writing, screeplay, dialogue, effects and the acting are absolutely top drawer and the overall feel of the movie is inspiring beyond belief. Anyone who has seen the film can't deny its longevity, even after the film has stopped rolling.
The other special thing with the movie is that even in the quieter scenes, the film is always doing something. Whether it's a little humour, a small insight into character behaviour, or something going on in the background, there's always something happening somewhere that keeps your eyes on the screen.
The way the characters are built upon by Darabont is absolutely perfect.
The entire film is a flashback, told by the character Paul Edgecomb, but the director uses more flashbacks and uses them sparingly, and in doing so, they add a massive depth to the storytelling and opens the plot brilliantly for future reference.
The character-audience relationship is also top notch, it's one of the very, very few films that I have actually cried at on my first viewing.
The acting is another plus as I said.
Tom Hanks as Guard Paul Edgecomb (played also by Dabbs Greer as an old man) makes his mark as the joint lead role. He's beleivable, likable and very engaging. Hanks also portrays masses of intelligence with his acting too. He exceptionally good.
Michael Clarke Duncan as John Coffey though really steals the show in the other joint lead.
Clark Duncan is by far the best actor on show and it's by far his best acting to date. He's mysterious, brooding, powerful, yet childlike and even delicate almost, he's also extremely likable and loveable and can be very funny when needed. All of this and he's barely on screen compared to the other actors.
Clarke Duncan makes this movie.
Supporting roles come from one of the finest casts I've seen in any film:
David Morse, Barry Pepper, Doug Hutchison, Jeffrey DeMunn, Bonnie Hunt, Michael Jeter, James Cromwell, Patricia Clarkson, Harry Dean Stanton, Gary Sinise and the brilliant Sam Rockwell.
The effects are relatively small, only slight glimpses into what Coffey is doing are actually shown but their impact is extremely believable and live with the audience for a long time. They're also very well put together.
All in all, this is one the best movies I've ever seen, in fact the best, even better than Shawshank. Problem is, Shawshank is one of a few films in my reviews section to have been given 100%, so, I'm breaking my own rule and giving The Green Mile a well deserved 101% Perfect Rating
John Coffey, a giant of a man, is found with the bodies of two dead sisters. Coffey and the girls respectively, are covered in blood and Coffey himself is distraught and screaming that he "Tried to take it back, but it was too late".
What makes things worse for the giant that is John Coffey, is that this is the year 1935 and is the deep south of the USA, Coffey is African American and the dead girls are white.
Coffey is immediately arested, charged and imprisoned on death row for the double rape and murder of the children.
While on death row, the prison guards and other inmates begin to realise that Coffey isn't quite what he has been accused of being, and a great doubt is cast over the circumstances of his arrest.
Delving deeper into the mystery, the guards discover something incredible about the apparent rapist/murderer that will change the course of not just their lives, but the lives of those they love too.
Another Stephen King novel brought to the screen, once again by the brilliant director Frank Darabont, The Green Mile is seconded only by the Shawshank Redemption in terms of King adaptions.
Darabont just seems to know how King's novels work, and this outing for the director doesn't disappoint.
The writing, screeplay, dialogue, effects and the acting are absolutely top drawer and the overall feel of the movie is inspiring beyond belief. Anyone who has seen the film can't deny its longevity, even after the film has stopped rolling.
The other special thing with the movie is that even in the quieter scenes, the film is always doing something. Whether it's a little humour, a small insight into character behaviour, or something going on in the background, there's always something happening somewhere that keeps your eyes on the screen.
The way the characters are built upon by Darabont is absolutely perfect.
The entire film is a flashback, told by the character Paul Edgecomb, but the director uses more flashbacks and uses them sparingly, and in doing so, they add a massive depth to the storytelling and opens the plot brilliantly for future reference.
The character-audience relationship is also top notch, it's one of the very, very few films that I have actually cried at on my first viewing.
The acting is another plus as I said.
Tom Hanks as Guard Paul Edgecomb (played also by Dabbs Greer as an old man) makes his mark as the joint lead role. He's beleivable, likable and very engaging. Hanks also portrays masses of intelligence with his acting too. He exceptionally good.
Michael Clarke Duncan as John Coffey though really steals the show in the other joint lead.
Clark Duncan is by far the best actor on show and it's by far his best acting to date. He's mysterious, brooding, powerful, yet childlike and even delicate almost, he's also extremely likable and loveable and can be very funny when needed. All of this and he's barely on screen compared to the other actors.
Clarke Duncan makes this movie.
Supporting roles come from one of the finest casts I've seen in any film:
David Morse, Barry Pepper, Doug Hutchison, Jeffrey DeMunn, Bonnie Hunt, Michael Jeter, James Cromwell, Patricia Clarkson, Harry Dean Stanton, Gary Sinise and the brilliant Sam Rockwell.
The effects are relatively small, only slight glimpses into what Coffey is doing are actually shown but their impact is extremely believable and live with the audience for a long time. They're also very well put together.
All in all, this is one the best movies I've ever seen, in fact the best, even better than Shawshank. Problem is, Shawshank is one of a few films in my reviews section to have been given 100%, so, I'm breaking my own rule and giving The Green Mile a well deserved 101% Perfect Rating
