The Green Mile (1999)
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80% of critics liked it
(132 reviews) -
93% of users liked it
(719,255 ratings)
Director Frank Darabont, who made an acclaimed feature film debut with The Shawshank Redemption (1994), based on a Stephen King novel set in a prison, returns for a second feature, based on King's 1996 serialized novel set in a prison. In 1935, inmates at the Cold Mountain Correctional Facility… More Director Frank Darabont, who made an acclaimed feature film debut with The Shawshank Redemption (1994), based on a Stephen King novel set in a prison, returns for a second feature, based on King's 1996 serialized novel set in a prison. In 1935, inmates at the Cold Mountain Correctional Facility call Death Row "The Green Mile" because of the dark green linoleum that tiles the floor. Paul Edgecomb (Tom Hanks) is the head guard on the Green Mile when a new inmate is brought into his custody: John Coffey (Michael Clarke Duncan), convicted of the sadistic murder of two young girls. Despite his size and the fearsome crimes for which he's serving time, Coffey seems to be a kind and well-mannered person who behaves more like an innocent child than a hardened criminal. Soon Edgecomb and two of his fellow guards, Howell (David Morse) and Stanton Barry Pepper), notice something odd about Coffey: he's able to perform what seem to be miracles of healing among his fellow inmates, leading them to wonder just what sort of person he could be, and if he could have committed the crimes with which he was charged. The Green Mile also stars James Cromwell as the warden; Michael Jeter, Sam Rockwell, and Graham Greene as inmates awaiting dates with the electric chair; and Harry Dean Stanton as a clever trustee. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Directed By
- Frank Darabont
- Written By
- Frank Darabont
- Genres
- Drama, Mystery & Suspense, Science Fiction & Fantasy
- In Theaters
- Dec 10, 1999 Wide
- Studio
- Warner Bros. Pictures
Critic Reviews
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Lisa Alspector, Chicago Reader
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 turn the walls into windows.
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Richard Corliss, TIME Magazine
To more than a few viewers, this one will feel like a life sentence.
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Derek Adams, Time Out
The supernatural elements carry an undeniable emotional charge, but the solution to the underlying murder mystery is disappointingly tidy and trite.
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Rick Groen, Globe and Mail
Three long hours of wind, an exercise in titanic self-importance intent on passing off klunky rhetoric as poignant drama.
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Michael Wilmington, Chicago Tribune
The movie taps into a vein of Dickensian sentiment, nightmare and idealism, ribaldry and tragedy that give it that part-dark, part-shining fairytale quality that imbues most King tales and all three of Darabont's features.
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Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)
Rotten (59% or fewer critics rated the movie positively)
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Cast
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Tom Hanks
as Paul Edgecomb
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David Morse
as Brutus "Brutal" Howell
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Bonnie Hunt
as Jan Edgecomb
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Michael Clarke Duncan
as John Coffey
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James Cromwell
as Warden Hal Moores
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Michael Jeter
as Eduard "Del" Delacroix
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Graham Greene (II)
as Arlen Bitterbuck
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Doug Hutchison
as Percy Wetmore
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Sam Rockwell
as William "Wild Bill" Wharton
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Barry Pepper
as Dean Stanton
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Jeffrey DeMunn
as Harry Terwilliger
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Patricia Clarkson
as Melinda Moores
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Harry Dean Stanton
as Toot Toot
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Dabbs Greer
as Paul Edgecomb (elderly)
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Eve Brent Ashe
as Elaine Connely
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Brent Briscoe
as Bill Dodge
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Bill Sadler
as Klaus Detterick
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Gary Sinise
as Burt Hammersmith




