The Green Mile

Name: The Green Mile
Genre: Drama, Mystery, Fantasy, Crime
Released: December 10, 1999
Duration: 189 min
Rating: 61
Cast: Michael Clarke Duncan, Tom Hanks

1999

METASCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 36 Critic Reviews

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USER SCORE

Universal acclaim based on 656 Ratings

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8.2

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8.2	User Score Universal acclaim based on 656 Ratings

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The Green Mile

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Movie Details & Credits

Warner Bros. Pictures | Release Date: December 10, 1999 | R

Starring: Michael Clarke Duncan, Tom Hanks

Summary: 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)

Director: Frank Darabont

Genre(s): Drama, Mystery, Fantasy, Crime

Rating: R

Runtime: 189 min

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Metascore

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Critic Reviews

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.

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. Read full review

Lisa Schwarzbaum

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

Carrie Rickey

Surely a life sentence goes by quicker.

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. Read full review

Film.com Tom Keogh

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

David Ansen

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

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User Reviews

Van4808

Nov 26, 2011

It makes me angry to see many low scores from critics, this is probably one of the best and most emotional movies I have ever watched.

36 of 52 users found this helpful3616

smiyamot

Nov 29, 2015

A short story by Stephen King, as I recall. We see a huge black man brought to Death Row for execution. The guards (including Tom Hanks) are very wary of him at first, but find him a kind, loving man. How could he have committed murder? And he seems to be able to cure illness and bring aA short story by Stephen King, as I recall. We see a huge black man brought to Death Row for execution. The guards (including Tom Hanks) are very wary of him at first, but find him a kind, loving man. How could he have committed murder? And he seems to be able to cure illness and bring a dead mouse back to life. How can this be? He introduces himself as James Coffee, J.C., Jesus Christ? So, do we crucify him again? Would we recognize the second coming of Christ if he was a huge black man? What if he was a woman? I don't have a lot of DVDs but this one is in my collection.… Expand

2 of 3 users found this helpful21

Pan_Krytyk

Feb 22, 2022

zajebisty film z tomem hanksem i w szczegolności Michael Clarke Duncan za role drugoplanowa powinien dostac oscara

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

ScareFan

Jun 9, 2015

3 hours of your time that you will not regret. As a massive Stephen King fan I could not wait to see this movie after I'd read the book, and boy was I ever impressed. The story in itself is heartbreaking and gut wrenching, so grab your tissues, but by the end of it don't be surprised if you3 hours of your time that you will not regret. As a massive Stephen King fan I could not wait to see this movie after I'd read the book, and boy was I ever impressed. The story in itself is heartbreaking and gut wrenching, so grab your tissues, but by the end of it don't be surprised if you want to watch the entire thing all over again. Tom Hanks is absolutely fabulous in the role of Paul Edgecomb, and the performances by Michael Clarke Duncan, David Morse and Sam Rockwell add all the necessary depth to their characters. Thrilling, magical, funny, traumatising... The Green Mile is all those things and I believe it would be impossible to be bored by this film. It's another one that requires your undivided attention and it is quite long but it doesn't feel that way by the end. There are characters you will love and ones you will hate but you will be touched by the stories they tell. I am always blown away by this movie, it is one of my all time favourites, and I highly recommend it.… Expand

3 of 3 users found this helpful30

MovieManiac83

Apr 23, 2015

"We think of this place like an intensive care ward of a hospital." So says Paul Edgecomb, who is in charge of Death Row in a Louisiana penitentiary during the Depression. Paul (Tom Hanks) is a nice man, probably nicer than your average Louisiana Death Row guard, and his staff is competent"We think of this place like an intensive care ward of a hospital." So says Paul Edgecomb, who is in charge of Death Row in a Louisiana penitentiary during the Depression. Paul (Tom Hanks) is a nice man, probably nicer than your average Louisiana Death Row guard, and his staff is competent and humane--all except for the loathsome Percy, whose aunt is married to the governor, and who could have any state job he wants, but likes it here because "he wants to see one cook up close." One day a new prisoner arrives. He is a gigantic black man, framed by the low-angle camera to loom over the guards and duck under doorways. This is John Coffey ("like the drink, only not spelled the same"), and he has been convicted of molesting and killing two little white girls. From the start it is clear he is not what he seems. He is afraid of the dark, for one thing. He is straightforward in shaking Paul's hand--not like a man with anything to be ashamed of.

"The Green Mile" (so-called because this Death Row has a green floor) is based on a novel by Stephen King, and has been written and directed by Frank Darabont. It is Darabont's first film since the great "The Shawshank Redemption" in 1994. That, too, was based on a King prison story, but this one is very different. It involves the supernatural, for one thing--in a spiritual, not creepy, way.

Both movies center on relationships between a white man and a black man. In "Shawshank" the black man was the witness to a white man's dogged determination, and here the black man's function is to absorb the pain of whites--to redeem and forgive them. By the end, when he is asked to forgive them for sending him to the electric chair, the story has so well prepared us that the key scenes play like drama, not metaphor, and that is not an easy thing to achieve.

I have started to suspect that when we talk about "good acting" in the movies, we are really discussing two other things: good casting and the creation of characters we react to strongly. Much of a performance is created in the filmmaking itself, in photography and editing and the emotional cues of music. But an actor must have the technical and emotional mastery to embody a character and evoke him persuasively, and the film must give him a character worth portraying. Tom Hanks is our movie Everyman, and his Paul is able to win our sympathy with his level eyes and calm, decent voice. We get a real sense of his efficient staff, of the vile natures of Percy and Wharton, and of the goodness of Coffey--who is embodied by Duncan in a performance that is both acting and being.

The movie is a shade over three hours long. I appreciated the extra time, which allows us to feel the passage of prison months and years. Stephen King, sometimes dismissed as merely a best-seller, has in his best novels some of the power of Dickens, who created worlds that enveloped us and populated them with colorful, peculiar, sharply seen characters. King in his strongest work is a storyteller likely to survive as Dickens has, despite the sniffs of the litcrit establishment.

By taking the extra time, Darabont has made King's "The Green Mile" into a story which develops and unfolds, which has detail and space. The movie would have been much diminished at two hours--it would have been a series of episodes without context. As Darabont directs it, it tells a story with beginning, middle, end, vivid characters, humor, outrage and emotional release. Dickensian.… Expand

1 of 1 users found this helpful10

DEJPOL

Oct 11, 2013

This movie is one of the best films on history.It never does not duplicate.To my surprise, the overall score of this masterpiece of a total of 61.I'm really sorry for the the critics of these sites

6 of 10 users found this helpful64

Steven1981

Apr 8, 2021

The Green Mile is a film directed by Frank Darabont and was made in 1999. Honestly I don't know what genre to categorise it as because it looks like a prison drama but crime, fantasy, drama could be possiblities... We know the black dude behind bars supposedly accused of murder holds someThe Green Mile is a film directed by Frank Darabont and was made in 1999. Honestly I don't know what genre to categorise it as because it looks like a prison drama but crime, fantasy, drama could be possiblities... We know the black dude behind bars supposedly accused of murder holds some supernatural healing powers or some rubbish and has flies or something coming from his mouth which is bizarre but the healing process you could class as supernatural... The Green Mile stars Tom Hanks, David Morse, Michael Clarke Duncan and Sam Rockwell who I must admit is annoying in this film and so is Doug Hutchison or whatever his name is from The X Files.. This film is about 3 hours long or more and it's totally unnecessary especially since not much happens because all we see is a prisoner being annoying and being put in a padded room and some mouse being clever performing tricks and some big black guy with flies oozing from his mouth and healing the odd person plus one of the prison workers ending up in a mental hospital and one of the prisoners getting shot and a few executions.. To be honest it gets rather boring and the only character I really liked was Tom Hanks's character and Michael Clarke Duncan's character kept crying all the time which was laughably pathetic but I liked Tom Hanks. Besides that The Green Mile delivered nothing and the entertainment value was little and some of the characters were crap and annoying plus alot of the locations looked tacky and you only ever see one part of the prison all through the film which is laughable and dull and why so many rate this garbage as a classic is beyond me. Quite possibly one of the worst films I've seen in a while so if you want a decent prison film or a decent film full stop avoid this turd and watch something else.… Expand

0 of 28 users found this helpful028

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98	#98 Best Movie of 1999
7	#7 Most Discussed Movie of 1999
10	#10 Most Shared Movie of 1999