Review of The Green Mile (1999) by Dave H — 09 Mar 2013

This was a film I never really knew about until I saw some commercials for it being played on TV a few years back. After seeing a few I thought it looked interesting so I sat down to watch it one day. I remember it was me, a 16-year-old guy, sitting there alone in my living room completely engrossed in this film.

As every minute of the film passed I grew to like it even more. This film isn't flashy or action packed or any of those other characteristics that appeal to the ignorant masses; what it had was beautiful music and beautiful character development and an expertly told, heart-wrenching story that left my tear-ducts so overworked it was painful.

My parents were out at dinner as I was watching this movie for the first time and I remember they got home with about half an hour left in the film and my mom decided to come in and watch the ending of it with me.

She had already seen it but obviously this was the first time I had seen it. It got to the point where I situated myself on the sofa to shield my face which was already streaked with tears from my mom.

However we both glanced at each other at the same time and both of us just started openly crying like babies. A decent amount of films have made me tear up before, but very few actually work my emotions so hard that my bottom lip starts trembling and my nose starts running.

It was such a great cry though, not many films captivate me so much that they get me crying like I did at the end of this film. That, in itself, is a testament to the power of this excellent movie. Anytime I need a good cry I'll be reaching for this movie again and again.