Old Paul Edgecomb: We each owe a death - there are no exceptions - but, oh God, sometimes the Green Mile seems so long. "Paul Edgecomb didn't believe in miracles. Until the day he met one."The Green Mile; loved the book, love the movie. Frank Darabont took another prison drama story from Stephen King and once again
made a phenomenal adaption from it. The story is simply amazing and Darabont brought it to the screen with as much precision and skill as when he made The Shawshank Redemption. Him and Reiner just know how to make Stephen King dramas.This story is set in the south where death row inmates stay for the last days of their lives. Paul Edgecomb is the head officer at what he calls the Green Mile. John Coffey, played to perfection by Michael Clarke Duncan, is transported there for the killing of two little girls. Before long Paul comes to see that John can work miracles and that he is actually a gentle and kind man; despite the fact that he was condemned to death. The cast is astounding wit David Morse and Barry Pepper as a couple of guards. Once again James Cromwell plays a warden, and Bonnie Hunt plays his sick wife.The movie comes in at over three hours, but still you won't find yourself bored and you won't look away. It is an emotional story and everyone involved hits all the right notes. I saw this as a young kid, probably when I was eight or nine and some of the images from the first time I watched are still in my head. John Coffey sitting, weeping with the two dead girls in his arms is an image that is hard to get out of your head.The Green Mile is an outstanding film that captures Kings novel well. The film evokes a variety of emotions throughout. You'll hate some characters, you'll love some, you'll laugh and you'll tear up.
February 3, 2011
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