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Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.
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Green Mile, The
Warner Bros.
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.
90
Salon.com
Andrew O'Hehir
Above all a cracking good yarn that earns its laughter, its wonder and its tears.
88
New York Post
Jonathan Foreman
A reminder of just how good Hollywood storytelling can be.
88
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.
80
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.
78
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.
75
New York Daily News
Jami Bernard
Has a simple but exceptionally powerful and uplifting emotional lure.
75
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
William Arnold
A richly textured thriller.
75
USA Today
Mike Clark
Well acted by an ensemble that leans toward equality for all, Mile carries its long running time extremely well.
75
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.
75
Entertainment Weekly
Lisa Schwarzbaum
Excessive, but I, like Mr. Jingles, can't resist the Christmas-season cheese.
75
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.
75
Miami Herald
Rene Rodriguez
A very engrossing movie, the kind that gives shameless manipulation a good name.
75
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.
70
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.
70
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.
70
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.
65
Mr. Showbiz
Kevin Maynard
This jailhouse jam is quite a haul.
63
Philadelphia Inquirer
Carrie Rickey
Surely a life sentence goes by quicker.
60
TV Guide
Maitland McDonagh
Modest, on-the-money performances, which look effortless because they're so meticulously thought out, make the hours fly by.
60
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.
60
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.
60
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.
60
LA Weekly
F. X. Feeney
A fascinating tragedy, easy to underrate.
60
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.
50
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.
50
Slate
David Edelstein
Superficially respectful but ultimately cruel.
50
San Francisco Examiner
Wesley Morris
A shameless "Shawshank" redux.
50
San Francisco Chronicle
Edward Guthmann
Three hours of overstatement and schmaltz.
50
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.
50
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.
50
Film.com
Tom Keogh
Simply a case of severe overreaching and the illusion that an overstuffed movie is an epic movie.
40
Village Voice
Michael Atkinson
Irritatingly repetitious and piled high with long-foreseen conclusions.
40
Los Angeles Times
Kenneth Turan
Moves with the suffocating deliberateness of a river of molasses.
38
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.
30
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
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