Sika’s 100 Greatest Movies of All Time! 70. The Green Mile (2000)

70. The Green Mile [2 Disc-DVD] (2000)

Plot: Paul Edgecombe (Tom Hanks) is the head guard on Death Row at a Louisiana Penitentiary in 1935.

John Coffey (Michael Clarke Duncan) a 7-foot, black man, sentenced to death for the rape and murder of two little girls, is his newest inmate.

It soon becomes apparent that he’s not the devil personified but a simple, gentle giant with a very special gift. Also Starring: David Morse, Bonnie Hunt, James Cromwell, Michael Jeter, Graham Greene, Doug Hutchison, Sam Rockwell, Patricia Clarkson, William Sadler, Gary Sinise
Directed by: Frank Darabont
Written by: Frank Darabont (screenplay) Stephen King (novel)
Length: 189 min
Budget: $60,000,000 (estimated)
Gross Revenue: 286,801,374 (worldwide)

Miracles do happen. (tagline)

Review: The quality of the movies adapted from Stephen King novels is varied to say the least. I have a feeling they would all be great if they would have been in the hands of director Frank Darabont. He has a way of making the Stephen King world work on the big screen. Heck, he even succeeded in making The Mist exciting. And that says it all.

Plus he has a great beard, which makes him an even greater director. And quite sexy too.

Favorite Quote: John Coffey: People hurt the ones they love. That’s how it is all around the world.

Tom Hanks is great (as usual). I went through his filmography and it is impressing. Yeah, I know, a lot of people have given him crap for Joe Versus the Volcano and The Bonfire of the Vanities that he made back to back in 1990 but hey, you could have worse movies as the low-point of your career, right?

Nerdiest Movie Trivia: Originally, Tom Hanks was going to play the Old Paul Edgecomb too, but the makeup tests didn’t make him look credible enough to be an elderly man. Dabbs Greer was cast instead as the older Paul Edgecomb in what would be his last film.

The rest of the cast is perfect too. The inmates and guards are perfectly cast, and especially  Doug Hutchison as sadistic prison guard Percy Wetmore. He is definitely one of my favorite “villains” of all time.

I’m surprised he hasn’t had a bigger movie career. He’s definitely worth it. And as most Stephen King movie this one too is loooong. But as film critic Roger Ebert so rightfully said it; “No good movie is too long and no bad movie is short enough“.

Oscar Count: 4 Nominations: Best Picture (David Valdes, Frank Darabont) Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Michael Clarke Duncan) Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material Previously Produced or Published (Frank Darabont) Best Sound (Robert J. Litt Elliot Tyson Michael Herbick Willie D. Burton).

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