The Green Mile (1999)

The Green Mile was a unique reading experience.  The story came out as a series of six short paperbacks in 1996.  The method was both to keep readers from skipping to the ending as well as to provide an experience similar to how many stories were released in the 19th century.  Often the stories of authors like Charles Dickens would be released that way or in magazines, with the intent that the family gather around and read them and anticipate what would come next, much like how serialized television is done now. 

What could easily have been a gimmick turned out to be one of King's best stories in quite a long time.  Reissues were released in full novel form and it was quite obvious that at some point the story would become a movie, given the success another King movie revolving around a prison, The Shawshank Redemption.  It turned out that the director of that movie, Frank Darabont, was excited to write and direct The Green Mile as well.

Paul Edgecomb (Dabbs Greer) is living in a retirement facility.  He is friends with another retiree named Elaine (Eve Brent) who becomes curious about Edgecomb's walks in the woods.  He decides to tell a story about when he was a prison guard in 1935.  At the time Paul (Tom Hanks) is suffering from a severe bladder infection when they receive a new inmate: a large, mentally challenged black man named John Coffey (Michael Clarke Duncan) who was found guilty of the murder of two young girls.  Edgecomb's job is to supervise the section of a Louisiana prison that holds the prisoners on death row.

Coffey not only is a model prisoner but it soon turns out he has the ability, in many cases, to be able to heal, starting with Edgecomb's infection.  Paul at first keeps it secret from everyone except his wife Jan (Bonnie Hunt), but further incidences lead to the rest of the crew finding out, except for the newest recruit named Percy Wetmore (Dough Hutchison).  Percy got his job through political connections and lords it over the other guards and uses it as an excuse to torture the inmates.  Things come to a head when a truly dangerous and psychotic criminal named William Wharton (Sam Rockwell) arrives and becomes a constant menace on the block.  In addition further revelations about Coffey bring Edgecomb to start doubting his role as the person in charge of state executions. 

Frank Darabont originally wanted Tom Hanks to play Andy Dufresne in The Shawhshank Redemption, but at the time he was filming Forrest Gump.  This time around they got to work together and Hanks puts in one of his best performances.  I thought at some point near the end the book got a bit maudlin, but Hanks has enough restraint to keep that from happening in the movie.  He is also backed by a great support cast, including David Morse, Jeffrey DeMunn, Barry Pepper and James Cromwell.  Both Sam Rockwell and Doug Hutchison are fittingly evil in their own ways, although Rockwell seems to go overboard.  

Michael Clarke Duncan plays Coffey the way he is written in the novel, with a simple but clear understanding of how the world works despite his outward friendliness and naivete.  It has unfortunately become a controversial role due to it being unfairly lumped in with the "magical negro" film trope.  John Coffey's race, other than being a black man in the South in the 1930s where judgment against him was obviously swift, has no bearing on Edgecomb's decisions in life.  He doesn't become a better person based on the advice of a black man, but instead gains a wider view on what his role is when he realizes he is forced to execute someone who shouldn't be just because the law says so.  Coffey was not written that way in the book nor portrayed as such in the movie, but is instead a simple-minded man who has had an injustice put upon him.

Although it does contain a shocking scene of a botched execution The Green Mile doesn't seek to be as brutal as The Shawshank Redemption regarding prison life.  It's really not supposed to be about that anyway, but more focused on concerns about the death penalty, and whether or not it could be applied to the wrong people.  We now know, with DNA providing a clearer picture that there were too many cases where this has happened, that the concern is legitimate.  This was something coming to light as King was writing the story, although I'm sure that reinforced his views more than creating the conflicts that it does within Edgecomb.  It also reminds us in the end that a lifetime contemplating what one has done is an even greater punishment than death would be as we return to the older Edgecomb living out his final years with nothing but his memories.

Where often a 90-minute movie can feel like an eternity if done wrong, The Green Mile feels like it goes by rather quickly.  One thing Darabont is a master at is not wasting the audience's time even if there is some heft to the running length.  Also, in a twist that rarely happens with King's stories, except for a few small changes and omissions this is pretty much the story as King told it in his book series, dialog and all.  While it still has supernatural elements it is a reminder of how King's storytelling, rather than sometimes far-out ideas, is his strength.  Darabont was one of the first of a number of modern directors to respect that. 

The Green Mile (1999)

Time: 189 minutes

Starring: Tom Hanks, Michael Clarke Duncan, David Morse, Jeffrey DeMunn, Barry Pepper, Dough Hutchison, Sam Rockwell

Director: Frank Darabont