The Green Mile (film)


The Green Mile is a 1999 American fantasy drama film written and directed by Frank Darabont and based on Stephen King's 1996 novel of the same name. It stars Tom Hanks as a death row corrections officer during the Great Depression who witnesses supernatural events that occur after an enigmatic inmate is brought to his facility. David Morse, Bonnie Hunt, Doug Hutchison and James Cromwell appear in supporting roles.
The film premiered on December 10, 1999, in the United States to positive reviews from critics, who praised its visual style and performances. It was a commercial success, grossing $290 million from its $60 million budget, and was nominated for four Academy Awards: Best Picture, Best Supporting Actor for Duncan, Best Sound and Best Adapted Screenplay.

Plot

In a Louisiana assisted-living home in 1999, Paul Edgecomb begins to cry while watching the film Top Hat. His companion Elaine becomes concerned, and Paul explains to her that the film reminded him of the events of 1935, which took place when he was a prison officer, in charge of death row, what they refer to as the "Green Mile".
In 1935, Paul supervises officers Brutus Howell, Dean Stanton, Harry Terwilliger, and Percy Wetmore at Cold Mountain Penitentiary. Paul, who suffers from a severe bladder infection, receives John Coffey, a physically imposing but mentally challenged black man, into his custody. John had been sentenced to death after being convicted of raping and murdering two white girls. He joins two other condemned inmates on the Mile: Eduard "Del" Delacroix, a Cajun, and Native-American inmate Arlen Bitterbuck, the latter of whom has been charged with several murders and is the first to be executed. Percy demonstrates a severe sadistic streak, but, as the nephew of Louisiana's First Lady, he cannot be held to account; he is particularly abusive towards Del, breaking his fingers, killing his pet mouse, Mr. Jingles, and repeatedly calling him "faggot." In exchange for resigning from the penitentiary and accepting a job at an insane asylum, Percy is allowed by Paul to oversee Del's execution; at the execution, Percy deliberately avoids soaking the sponge used to conduct electricity to Del's head, leading to Del suffering a gruesome and agonizing death with Paul and the others in attendance.
John begins to demonstrate supernatural powers; he cures Paul's bladder infection, resurrects Mr. Jingles, and heals Melinda Moores, wife of the prison's chief warden, of a brain tumor. This last affliction he releases into Percy, who under its influence shoots prisoner William Wharton to death. Wharton, who had arrived shortly after Bitterbuck's execution, had from the moment of his arrival been a troublemaker; he assaulted the guards as he was being escorted into the block, made mischief on two occasions that later caused Paul to order him restrained in the block's padded cell, groped Percy, racially insulted John, and revealed psychically to John that he is, in fact, responsible for the crime for which John was condemned. John then reveals the story psychically to Paul, and, when doing so, he also releases his supernatural energy into Paul. Percy is committed to the insane asylum.
Although distraught over the notion of being executed when innocent, John tells Paul that he wishes to die, as he views the world as a cruel place and constantly feels the cruelty of humanity like shards of glass in his head. Mentioning that he had never seen a movie before, John watches Top Hat with the other guards as a last request. John is executed that night; he asks the customary hood not be placed over his head, as he is afraid of the dark. Back in the present, Paul concludes his story by telling Elaine that John's was the last execution that he and Brutus supervised; they both subsequently resigned from the prison and took jobs in the juvenile system.
Elaine realizes that, since he had a grown son in 1935, Paul must be much older than he looks. Paul reveals that he is 108 years old. He is kept alive by the power that John passed on to show his psychic memories. Del's mouse, Mr. Jingles, is also still alive. Paul is shown later attending Elaine's funeral, and muses that if John's power could make a mouse live for as long as Mr. Jingles has, how much longer does he himself have left?

Cast

Darabont adapted Stephen King’s novel, The Green Mile, into a screenplay in under eight weeks.
The film was shot at Warner Hollywood Studios, West Hollywood, California, and on location in Shelbyville, Tennessee, Blowing Rock, North Carolina and the old Tennessee State Prison. The interior sets were custom built by production designer Terence Marsh. "We tried to give our set a sense of space. A sense of history. And a sense of mystery, in a way. We chose the elongated cathedral-like windows because there is a very mystical element in this movie, a supernatural element It presented us with lots of opportunities", he said. The electric chair was also a bespoke design, and was inspired by real prisons which have the device.

Casting

Hanks and Darabont met at an Academy Award luncheon in 1994. Stephen King stated he envisioned Hanks in the role and was happy when Darabont mentioned his name. Hanks was originally supposed to play elderly Paul Edgecomb as well, but the makeup tests did not make him look credible enough to be an elderly man. Because of this Greer was hired to play the older Edgecomb.
Duncan credited his casting to Bruce Willis, with whom he had worked on the film Armageddon one year earlier. According to Duncan, Willis introduced him to Darabont after hearing of the open call for John Coffey. Basketball player Shaquille O’Neal was considered for the role of John Coffey.
Morse had not heard about the script until he was offered the role. He stated he was in tears by the end of it. Darabont wanted Cromwell from the start, and after he read the script, Cromwell was moved and agreed.

Soundtrack

The official film soundtrack, Music from the Motion Picture The Green Mile, was released on December 19, 1999 by Warner Bros. It contains 37 tracks, primarily instrumental tracks from the film score by Thomas Newman. It also contains four vocal tracks: "Cheek to Cheek" by Fred Astaire, "I Can't Give You Anything but Love, Baby" by Billie Holiday, "Did You Ever See a Dream Walking?" by Gene Austin, and "Charmaine" by Guy Lombardo and His Royal Canadians.

Reception

Box office

In the United States, The Green Mile opened on December 10, 1999, and grossed $136 million. In all other territories, the film earned $150 million, bringing a worldwide total of $290.7 million.

Home media

The film was released on VHS and DVD on June 13, 2000. The film earned $17.45 million in combined DVD and VHS rental revenue by June 18, 2000.

Critical response

The Green Mile received positive reviews from critics with an approval rating of 78% on Rotten Tomatoes based on 134 reviews, with an average rating of 6.8/10. The critical consensus states, "Though The Green Mile is long, critics say it's an absorbing, emotionally powerful experience". The film also has a score of 61 out of 100 on Metacritic based on 36 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".
Film critic Roger Ebert gave the film out of 4 stars, writing "The film is a shade over three hours long. I appreciated the extra time, which allows us to feel the passage of prison months and years... it tells a story with beginning, middle, end, vivid characters, humor, outrage and emotional release". Writing for Entertainment Weekly, Lisa Schwarzbaum also took note of the film's length, but praised Tom Hanks' "superior" performance and Darabont's direction. "Darabont’s style of picture making is well matched to King-size yarn spinning. The director isn’t afraid to let big emotions and grand gestures linger", she said. San Francisco Chronicle's Edward Guthmann thought the cinematography was "handsome", and the music was "florid and melodramatic". He added, "Darabont is such a committed filmmaker, and believes so earnestly and intensely in the stories he puts onscreen". Desson Thomson of The Washington Post called the storytelling "brilliant", and said "From its deceptively easygoing beginning to the heart-wrenching finale, The Green Mile keeps you wonderfully high above the cynical ground."
However, some critics had a less positive response. Kirk Honeycutt of The Hollywood Reporter opined "By inflating the simple story with a languorous pace, pregnant pauses, long reaction shots and an infinitely slow metabolism, Darabont has burdened his movie version with more self-importance than it can possibly sustain." Whilst complimenting the production design and soundtrack, the critic from Timeout magazine thought some scenes were tiresome and the film "suffers from a surfeit of plot threads and characters". Writing for the BBC, Clark Collis took issue with some of the plot's unrealistic elements and thought the film was too long. David Ansen of Newsweek thought The Green Mile was weaker than Darabont's previous film, The Shawshank Redemption. He stated, '' is a "lumbering, self-important three-hour melodrama that defies credibility at every turn".

Accolades