Review of The Green Mile (1999) by Tss5078 — 22 Mar 2013

I don't believe in much, but I do believe that miracles exist. Weather it's all part of the grand design or just abnormalities of nature, I'll never know, none of us will. This theme is explored in the novel and film, The Green Mile.

How Stephen King came up with such a poignant and heartfelt tale is beyond me, maybe it was divine intervention, but the story of the Green Mile is a unique and moving film, the likes of which I've never seen before.

The story centers around a man who is sent to death row, and once there he is able to doing seemingly impossible things. The performances in this film were Oscar worthy, building on the success of their last collaboration, The Shawshank Redemption, King and Durabont, got the biggest star in Hollywood to star in this film.

The combination of a strong sentimental story along with the acting power of Tom Hanks made this film one for the ages. The supporting cast, in particular Michael Clarke Duncan and Sam Rockwell, were tremendous assets to the film and their careers were launched with the help of Hanks's experience and King's amazing words, but this film is far from perfect.

As an avid Stephen King fan, I know his attention to detail has often times been his downfall and to be honest, this film is about an hour longer than it needed to be. The story, in particular the ending were so powerful, that a lot of the in between could have been left on the cutting room floor.

That aside, this is a long, but fantastic film with some of the best writing and performances you could find. Like many classic films the critics love, it's a bit long, parts of it are somewhat boring, and the storyline isn't for everybody, there are plenty of people who just won't get it.

I did get it and I feel the better for it. This is one of those films, love it or hate it, that everyone should see at least once.