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Green Mile, The
Warner Bros.


9.0

based on 36 reviews
Read critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

based on 41 votes
Read user comments
Rate this movie

FILM:

MPAA RATING: R for violence, language, and some sex-related material

Starring Tom Hanks, David Morse, Bonnie Hunt, Michael Duncan, and James Cromwell

Set on Death Row in a Southern prison in 1935, this is the remarkable story of a prison guard who develops a poignant, unusual relationship with one inmate who possesses a magical gift that is both mysterious and miraculous. (Castle Rock Entertainment)

GENRE(S):	Drama
WRITTEN BY:	Stephen King (novel) Frank Darabont
DIRECTED BY:	Frank Darabont
RELEASE DATE:	DVD: June 13, 2000 Video: June 13, 2000 Theatrical: December 10, 1999
RUNNING TIME:	188 minutes, Color
ORIGIN:	USA

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

100

TNT RoughCut Christopher Brandon

So moving, so memorable, so magically produced, it's going to delight millions of movie fans and sweep the Oscars.

Salon.com Andrew O'Hehir

Above all a cracking good yarn that earns its laughter, its wonder and its tears.

New York Post Jonathan Foreman

A reminder of just how good Hollywood storytelling can be.

Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert

As Darabont directs it, it tells a story with beginning, middle, end, vivid characters, humor, outrage and emotional release. Dickensian.

Film.com Sean Means

Darabont follows King's book fairly closely, allowing the audience to steep itself in the setting and characters slowly, like reading a good novel.

Austin Chronicle Marc Savlov

A touching (and at times horrific) -- albeit overlong -- Christ allegory, that scores not so much on the strength of its convictions as it does on the truly remarkable performances it elicits from the cast.

New York Daily News Jami Bernard

Has a simple but exceptionally powerful and uplifting emotional lure.

Seattle Post-Intelligencer William Arnold

A richly textured thriller.

USA Today Mike Clark

Well acted by an ensemble that leans toward equality for all, Mile carries its long running time extremely well.

Portland Oregonian Shawn Levy

An often pedestrian film, one that never inflates to the epic grandeur to which it aspires or transfers its own emotional trajectory off the screen and into the viewer.

Entertainment Weekly Lisa Schwarzbaum

Excessive, but I, like Mr. Jingles, can't resist the Christmas-season cheese.

Boston Globe Jay Carr

There's almost too much there, but the three-hour-plus film permits the kind of detailing that not only brings the storytelling to life, but sometimes persuades us we're breathing to its rhythms.

Miami Herald Rene Rodriguez

A very engrossing movie, the kind that gives shameless manipulation a good name.

Chicago Tribune Michael Wilmington

On many levels, it hits its marks -- but it still misses the impact of some shorter, less-ambitious movies that play with our emotions more deftly or deeply, walk their miles, deadly or not, with a lighter, faster, more confident tread.

Washington Post Desson Thomson

From its deceptively easygoing beginning to the heart-wrenching finale, The Green Mile keeps you wonderfully high above the cynical ground.

The New York Times Elvis Mitchell

A film with a counterproductive tendency to take its time...but unassumingly strong, moving performances and Darabont's durable storytelling make it a trip worth taking just the same.

Variety Todd McCarthy

An intermittently powerful and meticulously crafted drama that falls short of its full potential due to considerable over-length and some shopworn, simplistic notions at its center.

Mr. Showbiz Kevin Maynard

This jailhouse jam is quite a haul.

Philadelphia Inquirer Carrie Rickey

Surely a life sentence goes by quicker.

TV Guide Maitland McDonagh

Modest, on-the-money performances, which look effortless because they're so meticulously thought out, make the hours fly by.

Dallas Observer Gregory Weinkauf

A loud and ghastly movie to sit through and not short on gratuitous hideousness, but Darabont has also done his best to baste it with humanity and sweetness.

Chicago Reader Lisa Alspector

Much of the three-hour movie takes place in the prison, but the resonant characterization, expansive plotting, and judicious use of exterior locations and flashbacks remove any sense of claustrophobia or sluggishness.

Rolling Stone Peter Travers

But just watch Hanks, with the effortless grace of a Jimmy Stewart, turn the loony into something sweetly logical. Now that is magic.

LA Weekly F. X. Feeney

A fascinating tragedy, easy to underrate.

Film.com Robert Horton

I still feel pushed around by Darabont's mysticism, and his overbearing sense of grandness; a little bit of the Mile goes a long way.

Film.com John Hartl

While writer-director Frank Darabont often fails to make King's story plausible, that's no fault of the actors. The performances are the movie's strong suit.

Slate David Edelstein

Superficially respectful but ultimately cruel.

San Francisco Examiner Wesley Morris

A shameless "Shawshank" redux.

San Francisco Chronicle Edward Guthmann

Three hours of overstatement and schmaltz.

Time Richard Corliss

At the core, though, one finds a slacky, sappy film. The human mystery that breathed so easily in "Shawshank" is often forced here.

Christian Science Monitor David Sterritt

Its view of spiritual healing is closer to Spielberg fantasy than religious insight. Still, its good acting and good intentions will be enough to please many viewers.

Film.com Tom Keogh

Simply a case of severe overreaching and the illusion that an overstuffed movie is an epic movie.

Village Voice Michael Atkinson

Irritatingly repetitious and piled high with long-foreseen conclusions.

Los Angeles Times Kenneth Turan

Moves with the suffocating deliberateness of a river of molasses.

Baltimore Sun Ann Hornaday

With a grating combination of naivete and arrogance, The Green Mile consistently overplays its melodramatic material, including a portrait of a black man that is as breathtakingly offensive as it is earnest.

Newsweek David Ansen

A lumbering, self-important three-hour melodrama that defies credibility at every turn.

The average user rating for this movie is 9.0 (out of 10) based on 41 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

theresa m gave it a10:
Thought-provoking and emotional dynamite!

someone w gave it a10:
I am starting to lose the faith in metacritic's rating... this movie was one of the best I have seen since ages, and 3 hrs isnt that long for it.

Bruno G. gave it a10:
I really think this movie deserves a perfect score. The first time i saw it i was forced to lock myself in the bathroom to cry like i baby. It's very touching indeed, and the acting of John it's wonderful.

Jay H gave it a10:
The reviews for this remind me once again that most film critics are overpaid, self important idiots. This was one of the best films ive ever seen.

Tony B. gave it a9:
Succeeds on all levels...give in to it.

[Anonymous] gave it a10:
Okay, I do not have any interest in Stephen King. I think most of his stuff because they're so stupid. All they are filled with are stuff like killer clowns and mist that make people go ape-sh*t on each other. But I made an exception for this movie. It didn't seem like it would be scary. It's just a prison story. And fortunately, this is exactly what I wanted. It was everything you want a great movie to be. Great cast and acting, powerful scenes, emotion, and Tom Hanks. This is #8 on my top ten list, under The Last Samurai and Star Wars. I give it 10/10

Gary A. gave it a9:
Those so called movie reviewers who slated this movie are not representative of the ordinary guy on the street who enjoyed the film. As shown by the average score of 9.

Green Mile, The Warner Bros.

Green Mile, The
Warner Bros.