The Green Mile

And that pretty much sums up the sentiment of this movie. Of course, the movie was better then the trailers gave it credit for, but it was still pretty sappy.

First and foremost, I must say this: No matter what horrible things you hear behind this door, no matter how loud I scream, I did like this movie. I thought it was a very good movie. It just had some very fatal problems.

Screenwriter/director Frank Darabont takes us back to Stephen King’s Prisonworld, which he had already taken us to in The Shawshank Redemption, definitely one of the greatest prison films of all time.

Paul Edgecomb (Tom Hanks) is the head warden on death row at a Louisiana prison back in the 20s. He’s seen them come and go, but never quite like the one he’s about to see. Enter John Coffey (Michael Duncan from Armageddon), the biggest, blackest man on the face of the earth. He looks like he would be trouble. But when he asks for a light to be left on at night because he “gets scared sometimes in the dark,” some questions come up. Could a man who is this meek have raped and killed two little girls?

Then there’s the other guards on the Mile. Brutus “Brutal” Howell (David Morse from Contact, The Crossing Guard and 12 Monkeys) is the Tom Sizemore character here. He’s pretty much second in command and is always ready to back up whatever Paul says. He’s also pretty handy with a billy club. Dean Stanton (Barry Pepper from Saving Private Ryan) is the young-un of the crew. He’s ready to help out, but he’s still learning the ropes. Harry Terwilleger (Jeffery DeMunn from The X Files movie, (shudder) Rocket Man and a small part in Shawshank) is the old man of the group. He’s been around, but he hasn’t quite gotten to the ranks of Paul. And, just to bring a real villain into the story, there’s Percy Wetmore (Doug Hutchison from Batman & Robin…poor guy). He’s a prissy little busy-body who “knows people.” And that’s the only reason he has his job. All he really does is make life a hell for the guys on death row.

The prisoners are, for the most part, not bad guys. There’s Arlen Bitterbuck (Graham Greene who has been in every movie that called for a Native American, most notably Dances With Wolves and Maverick), but he doesn’t really say much. He’s just kind of there. The main side prisoner is Eduard Delacroix (Michael Jeter from “Evening Shade” and The Fisher King). He’s a simple minded little Cajun who only seems to want friends. He finds one in Mr. Jingles, a mouse who finds his way onto the Mile. This, of course, is no end of annoyance to Percy.

And so the story goes until a) we find out about Coffey’s special powers and b) William “Wild Bill” Wharton (Sam Rockwell from Safe Men and Lawn Dogs) shows up. Wild Bill brings a bit of evil to the Mile. While all of the rest of the prisoners are completely serene when Percy’s not around, Wild Bill is Hell on Earth. He spits at Paul. He pees on Harry. There’s just nothing he won’t do.

As for John’s powers, he’s a healer. He takes the ailments of people onto himself and then coughs them up in a cloud of flies. Where did that come from? Well, this is, after all, a Stephen King story. You had to expect a weird twist. In fact, that’s what gives the story its inspiration. That’s what brings the over-sentimentality to the film. Would such a person be put on Earth just to be killed like this? Would someone with the power to heal be able also to kill? Paul doesn’t think so.

While Shawshank was sentimental and thought provoking and inspiring and all that stuff, this movie goes well beyond the call of duty in the first and last of those traits. There are so many scenes that end in an inspirational thought that I thought I was watching the Lifetime Network.

While we’re on the problems, I’ll just list a few.

First off there’s the Saving Private Ryan framing story. This time it’s a little more needed, but it’s just too long. The film is three hours long and could have been cut by about 15 minutes just by editing some of the old Paul out. Especially at the end. There’s a scene where the movie should have ended, but it kept going for another few minutes. This is what we call “padding,” folks. It’s what directors do in order to make their movie no longer a short. Well, you know, this movie was never in danger of that, so cut it.

Then there’s Paul’s ailment. He has a urinary tract infection. While this works well in the book (one of King’s best lately), it doesn’t translate well to screen. I’m sure they could have come up with something that wouldn’t involve Tom Hanks holding his crotch all the time. It kind of turned comical after a while.

And the flying sparks. There were so many light bulbs breaking in this movie that I thought I was watching the director’s cut of the finale of The Natural. Lots of shots of Tom with sparks behind him. Come on.

But, as I said before, I did like the movie a lot. There were some good points. The acting was great. Michael Jeter was a standout, but everyone was perfect. Tom, as always, put in a great “everyman” performance. He was the leader, but he led them as one of them, not as a commander. (And I’m talking about character and acting.) Michael Duncan was pretty amazing, too, as the beleaguered Coffey. Pretty inspiring performance of a tortured man with a great gift. And it’s always good to see Tom and Gary Sinise together again. (How many movies have they made together? Are they about to become Bob Hope and Bing Crosby? Or Janeane Garofalo and Ben Stiller?) And, as always, James Cromwell put in a great supporting performance. It’s always good to see him as long as he’s not acting with a talking pig. (Although, the way Tom’s going, he just about was.) Harry Dean Stanton still has it, too. He’s got the crazy freako character down to a science. He plays a trustee named Toot-Toot who helps the guards rehearse the executions. Doug Hutchison reminds me a lot of Peter MacNicol from Ghostbusters II and “Alley McBeal” (“Why am I drippings vith goo?”)) He’s just so sleazy! And I was finally impressed by Sam Rockwell. He totally annoyed me in Safe Men (which, by the way, was not very funny at all), but he kind of scared me in this one. He was equally gross and evil. Perfect combo for this character.

The story was great, too. As I said, it’s based on one of Stephen King’s best recent books. I think writing in serial form helped him get back to the old days.

Nothing wrong with the direction, either. Maybe a few too many sweeping entrances and a pretty obvious Psycho-like shot at a mental institution, but that can be forgiven. I was thoroughly involved the whole way. I just wish it hadn’t been so damn long!

Overall, a very good movie. Not a great one, though. That’s unfortunate because I think Mr. Darabont could be the best adapter of Stephen King novels ever. With the possible exception of Rob Reiner.

King said that The Green Mile was the best adaptation. Maybe the most faithful, but not the best. Nothing compares to Stand By Me.