The Green Mile
Overview
The Green Mile is a 1999 fantasy drama film directed by Frank Darabont, based on the 1996 Stephen King novel of the same name. The film stars Tom Hanks as Paul Edgecomb, a death row corrections officer at Cold Mountain Penitentiary in Louisiana during the Great Depression. The film is set in 1935. The "Green Mile" is the walk from the cell block to the electric chair, which is painted green. Paul is a kind, compassionate man who tries to treat the condemned men with dignity. He is assisted by his fellow officers: Brutus "Brutal" Howell (David Morse), a gentle giant; Dean Stanton (Barry Pepper), a kind man; and Percy Wetmore (Doug Hutchison), a sadistic, cowardly man who enjoys tormenting the prisoners. The film follows the arrival of John Coffey (Michael Clarke Duncan), a massive, gentle, and mentally disabled black man who has been convicted of raping and murdering two white girls. John is terrified of the dark, and he cries easily. He also has a supernatural gift: he can heal people and absorb their pain. He heals Paul of a urinary tract infection, he brings a dead mouse back to life, and he heals the warden's wife of a brain tumor. Paul comes to believe that John is innocent, and that the real killer is a man named Wild Bill Wharton (Sam Rockwell), a psychopath who is also on death row. Paul cannot stop John's execution. John is executed, and he takes the evil of the world with him. Paul is now 108 years old, and he is the last living person who knew John. He has outlived everyone he loves, and he believes that it is his punishment for allowing John to die. The Green Mile was a critical and commercial success, earning over $286 million worldwide. It was nominated for four Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Supporting Actor for Michael Clarke Duncan. The film is a beautiful, heartbreaking, and deeply spiritual film about the nature of good and evil.
