Review of The Green Mile (1999) by Joe C — 04 Jan 2015

You really can't blame people for viewing The Green Mile as a sort of Shawshank II. After all, Darabont's follow-up to Shawshank Redemption was also a prison movie, also adapted from a Stephen King and also a powerful statement about the human condition.

Comparing the two demeans the qualities The Green Mile has to offer, though. Darabont's "other" prison movie is moving, absorbing and carries its three-hour run time with aplomb. Darabont's level-headed directing and Steven King's fervent source material uncannily dissolves the world around you as you deal with the existence of God, and test your faith in humanity.

While it doesn't cram religion down your throat, it acknowledges and explores the fact that there is magic in the world we will never know, with a brilliant Michael Clarke Duncan as the catalyst. It does include one of the more disturbing execution scenes in cinema history too, so tread lightly.