The Green Mile (1999)

3 out of 4

Starring: Tom Hanks, David Morse, Barry Pepper, Doug Hutchison, James Cromwell, Michael Clarke Duncan, Bonnie Hunt

Director: Frank Darabont

Time: 188 mins

Stephen King novels are a great source of ideas for Hollywood, yet most films based on his works tend to be forgettable. The reason seems to be simple: there are only a few directors and scriptwriters who can capture the essence of a Stephen King novel and turn it into an above-average film. One of these is Rob Reiner, who transformed Misery into an Oscar-winning (and scary) thriller and the novella The Body into the memorable coming-of-age drama Stand By Me. Another is Frank Darabont, who was behind the critically acclaimed The Shawshank Redemption. His latest adaptation, of King's serialised novel The Green Mile, is also set in a prison, but one in which death row inmates spend their last few days before execution. The Green Mile is not so much a horror film as a prison drama with a few supernatural moments. The result is a slightly overlong film that doesn't quite hit the emotional highs, but is still a fairly rich and rewarding experience for those who make it through.

Tom Hanks plays Paul Edgecomb, a prison guard in charge of Cold Mountain Penitentiary in 1935. Here he oversees the incarceration and eventual execution (by electric chair) of condemned criminals. The floor from the prison cells to the execution room is lined with green linoleum, which gives rise to the term, The Green Mile, that last walk the prisoners make. His colleagues include Brutus Howell (Morse), Dean Stanton (Pepper), and the sadistic Percy Wetmore (Hutchison), a weak-willed relative of the state governor who likes nothing more than to inflict pain. One day, a giant black man by the name of John Coffey ("just like the drink, but not spelt the same") is brought in, having been convicted for the murder of two young girls.

Coffey has a gentle and peaceful disposition, not one that befits a cold-blooded killer. When he performs some minor miracles, Edgecomb starts to believe he might be innocent. But time is running out before Coffey has to walk the Green Mile himself.

The Green Mile is a long film, coming in at a little over 3 hours. While not boring, this isn't as well-paced as recent 160 minute-plus films like Titanic and Saving Private Ryan. There are numerous scenes that unfold in a reflective manner, as if they were something to be savoured over a cup of tea. The principal focus is on Edgecomb and Coffey, but there are many other characters and storylines that are explored. There is a substantial segment devoted to a mouse, for example, as well as a horrifying moment when an execution goes wrong. There is one suspenseful sequence when the guards sneak Coffey out of the prison, but again this is more of a drama and not the horror story that Stephen King usually writes. The cruel and sadistic Percy is given plenty of screen time, so much so that I expected him to have some sort of impact on Coffey's fate. He does have an impact, but in a different way. Coffey's acceptance of his predicament, while believable, is unsatisfactory, almost ruining an otherwise good story.

The film is also another in the recent trend of having a bookending plotline that is set in the present. Other blockbusters to have used this technique are, ironically, Titanic and Saving Private Ryan. Will all future movies that are 3 hours long use this plot device? I wonder.

There are no false notes in the acting, however. The characterisations are fairly low-key, but still vivid and memorable. The reliable Tom Hanks is good as Edgecomb, and Morse follows on his fine work from Contact and The Negotiator. Best of all are Hutchison as the vile Percy, and Duncan as the benign Coffey. James Cromwell, Barry Pepper, and Bonnie Hunt lend good support.

The Green Mile could probably have done with better pacing. Maybe not in the style of a summer popcorn movie (where everything moves at lightning speed), but perhaps a trim of about 20 to 30 minutes would have made it a tighter film. Still, all characters and plotlines that were explored probably deserved to, as they all played their part (including the mouse!). And not having read the novel, there might be cries from the purists who would object to such cuts. But this is a film, and that is a novel. If I want all the nuances and gory details, I would read the book.

(c) Joe Wong