Rating: 
Summary: No stars if I could do it
Review: First off, I have a heart. And, secondly, I have been moved to tears by some movies. "The Green Mile," however, is not one of those movies. And the fact that so many people are gushing over this movie and lauding it with 5 stars has me more than a bit confused -- am I really that out of touch? Is it a Stephen King thing? Is it a "we need a sequel to Shawshank" thing (sort of like "Unbreakable" and "The Sixth Sense") where any sort of affinity or familiarity to the original movie will do? Have Stephen King and Frank Darabount and Tom Hanks managed to tap into the lowest common denominator emotionally and give us a safe canvas where we can project our pain and feel sorry for ourselves and cry about our lives being so difficult? I honestly do not know. I got lost somewhere along the way by the cowardice of the main character (Tom Hanks) and the fact that whoever was steering this tale (Darabount &/or King) was completely overplaying the emotions in the story. Instead of subtlety, it was outright manipulation. The characters could have passed for teenagers in terms of the depth of their development (but maybe that was supposed to be a sly comment on adulthood in general nowadays). The execution scenes were supposed to be harsh and shocking, but they were for the most part laughable and transparent -- the last one was especially transparent. And the messianic overtones in the story -- John Coffey as a stand-in for Christ -- absolutely ludicrous, and anyone calling themselves a "Christian" should be offended beyond belief at such a warping of the Christ-figure archetype. I gotta hand it to Hanks, Darabount, and King, though, this is some pretty slick movie-making, and I can see where the emotional rip-tide they try to conjure might really drown out people's sensibilities.
Rating: 
Summary: disappointing
Review: well from the director of The Shawshank Redemption I sure expected a little better. This story is way too long, and not near as satisfying or as moving as that of Shawshank. Many moments supposed to elicit tears left me hopelessly dry-eyed. Although it's not bad, I would barely recommend it. The film didn't come close to the impact that the other film had. If you do decide to see it, don't expect a masterpiece like The Shawshank Redemption, which is like ten times better. Ya know what? Just watch that one again!
Rating: 
Summary: Powerful Story-Telling With Several Messages
Review: When Stephen King doesn't make horror the centerpiece of a story, and the supernatural is just a component, you see wonderful things. "The Shawshank Redemption", "Stand by Me", and "The Stand" are three examples of this, and now we have a fourth. A fairly intricate plot, well-developed characters who are realistic (even when they do unreal things), and an underlying plot as old as Man: Good versus Evil. The execution scenes are very graphic. However viewers feel about the death penalty, everyone should understand and face the reality of what they oppose OR support. Behind the philosophical standpoint, there are men of great crimes who will, or will not, pay the ultimate price for what they have done. This movie stares that reality right in the face. Some people see the Tom Hanks character, and his cohorts, as inept. I DO NOT. They are dealing, day in and day out, with men facing their deaths. They stand as representatives of the society that has, rightly or wrongly, imposed the death penalty. They must deal with (sometimes) barbarous men without losing their own humanity. And, they have no manual to tell them how to do this well. Their uncertainty in the face of this task is genuine, understandable, and real. I would not comdemn these characters for trying to do an awful job as well as it can be done. Some people have also complained about the length of this movie. I knew its length going in, and felt like not a minute of my time was wasted. Stephen King does not rush through a story, but lets it unfold itself. Patience is a virtue seldom seen these days. Parents should watch this movie by themselves first, and then decide whether to watch it with their (older) children. It can be used as a way to discuss the death penalty, however you feel about it, in a context of men trying to do right by men who have done wrong, which is the reality of the death penalty. However, while the death penalty is the surface focus of this film, that is really just one aspect of morality dealt with in the movie. The characters, while realistic and three-dimensional, also represent, symbolically, different degrees and aspects of good and evil. In the tense arena of Death Row, these characters collide and allow us to watch the battles between Good and Evil play out in several ways. Warnings: This is a prison movie (and much more), and there is a lot of rough language. Also, the electrocution scenes are not for young children or for the squeamish.
Rating:
Summary: green mile
Review: This is one of the best movies I've seen in a long time. The casting and directing are excellent . Would highly reccommend this movie
Rating:
Summary: American film-making at its best
Review: The Green Mile can be seen as a "sister" film to the Shawshank Redemption which is, in my opinion, the best prison movie ever made. The Green Mile is also a prison film, but this time we see prison life from the warden's eye view. Like its predesessor, The Green Mile is a superbly crafted movie, powerful as anything you'll ever see. BUT, two things make this film inferior to Shawshank: the healing scenes (Spielberg time) and one particuarly harrowing botched-execution scene which is shockingly graphic and unecessarily drawn out. Certainly changed my mind about capital punishment, though. The actors, with Tom Hanks at the helm, all turn in brilliant perfomances, and...well...it's a great film - a thought-provoking blockbuster - even though the cross-genre flirtation is hard to take seriously. The perfect Christmas holiday movie, then. For adults, that is.
Rating:
Summary: A must see movie
Review: Here is a motion picture that comes along once in a lifetime. This movie is so entertaining, once you see it you want to see it agian. The Green Mile is an unbelievable compilation of great acting, directing, and filming and it has an amazing story to tell. Even though it is a long movie, it is well worth your time. Unfortunately, a Golden piece, and by not awarding the best supporting actor to Michael Clarke Duncan, who clearly deserved this award for his moving portrayal of John Coffey. Don't forget to have steady supply of tissue on hand, it will be needed more than once.
Rating:
Summary: Beutiful and Inspiring
Review: Like Baghdad Cafe this movie only begins to really grip us when a seemingly unremarkable person begins to perform miracles. Gentle giant John Coffey is falsely accused of brutally murdering two little girls
The movie in fact begins in 1999 when we meet Paul Edgecombe as an elderly man haunted by the ghost of his past
The movie then flashes back to 1935 where the younger Edgecombe is a prison guard played by Tom Hanks. With a good team of good men with the exception of the hateful Percy Wetmore -the men have to deal with the strange instance of a seemingly gentle but imposingly huge black man ,John Coffey, (Michael Clarke Duncan) , accused of a hideous murder
We are introduced to several new characters including an old Cajun eccentric Eduard De la Croix (Peter Jeter), a mouse that does tricks and a demonic evil psycho known as Wild Bill Wharton (Sam Rockwell)
Then things become remarkable when John Coffey begins to perform miracles including curing Edgecombe's excruciating urinary infection, bringing a dead (and crushed) mouse back to life and full health and then most remarkably healing the aging Prison Governor's terminally ill wife of the brain tumour that is causing her insanity and illness
We found out through a remarkable vision passed on from Coffey to Edgecombe that it was Wild Bill who had committed the diabolical murder of the two children and it was Coffey who had attempted to bring them back to life with his God given powers -but tragically too late
Alas the real murderer now lies dead in his cell through Coffeys own act of retribution on Wild Bill through the other villain -Wetmore
Therefore no one is left alive to prove Coffeys innocence and Edgecombe must now put a man to death who he knows to be innocent as cannot prove the truth (perhaps with the forensic advancements available today thing may have been different ????)
Coffey goes to his death as a Christlike figure , a man of pure goodness and one of God's miracle workers condemned to die in front of a jeering mob for the crimes of others. It is a remarkable movie-inspiring ,poignant and beautiful-one of the masterpieces of the 1990's
Rating: 
Summary: Miles to go before he sleeps.
Review: The Green Mile draws its name from the lime floor tiles that cover the floor of a southern prison's death row. In a story with that backdrop and set in a 1935, you could expect death to be a main theme... in this case you'd be wrong. Surprisingly, we are quickly drawn into the lives of the prisoners and their guards in what can only be described as normal daily existence. They worry about normal things like friendships, security, conformity and boredom. We can therefore believe in them as real people, with pasts and futures, rather than two-dimensional silhouettes merely cast onto horrific scenery. The Green Mile is not a film that can be easily described. All of the characters are important. If there is a plot, it is submerged beneath a dozen important sub-plots. The characters are what keep us entranced during this three-hour celebration of morality. Our point of view is firmly glued to the senior guard on the Green Mile, Paul Edgecomb, played with feeling by Tom Hanks. Paul is a good man, surviving the great depression in a less than attractive job. We are witness to his strength early in the film as he deals with an excruciating urinary tract infection. This strength is displayed in other ways as the story progresses. Based on a series of Stephen King novellas, we are not surprised when a new inmate arrives who fails to fit into any kind of prison mold. John Coffey, (J.C. - get it?), is a mountain of a man who exudes innocence and peace in equal measures. Every day that he stays on the row, increases Paul's belief that Coffey was wrongly convicted of killing two little girls. It is only after Coffey displays a miraculous healing gift that Paul starts to question the status quo. But Paul's redemptive efforts, and even his work, are constantly hampered by a junior guard, Percy Wetmore, (Doug Hutchison). Percy is well connected in political circles and uses this form of protection to free his base desires. He likes to humiliate, frighten and hurt other people, never a good combination in a prison guard. Luckily, Percy is well matched by Paul Edgecomb. We have confidence that Paul will eventually master Percy. Balance seems to be important in the story because just as Paul and Percy struggle on opposite sides of morality, John Coffey is soon introduced to his opposite, William "Wild Bill" Wharton, (Sam Rockwell). Wharton is a thoroughly evil man. Not content with enjoying his own warped hobbies, he seems driven to spread as much suffering as inhumanly possible. Unconcerned with his impending execution, he takes every opportunity to attack the guards. We even feel some sympathy for Percy when he comes within the diseased reach of Wharton. All the support roles are outstanding, although Graham Green's character, Arlen Bitterbuck, was not so memorable. I'd like to especially praise David Morse, who plays Brutus, Paul's right hand man; and Michael Jeter, playing a Cajun prisoner, Eduard Delacroix, who has a comic dose of eccentricity. Eduard introduces another minor character, Mr Jingles the mouse. There is a lot of symbolism in The Green Mile. The mouse, eventually adopted by Eduard, seems to represent freedom. He comes and goes without restriction. He can't be trapped and he enjoys life, as expressed through his simple circus tricks. Coffey's healing power clearly represents good or perhaps the power of God. The ephemeral black insects he releases after absorbing disease, imply more than illness. Perhaps sickness is supposed to be an evil of the body. Sadly, Coffey eventually embodies pure goodness in our minds, and then he renounces the world and its ubiquitous evil. We are almost convinced there is no hope in our lives but luckily, Paul's strength shows us that hope can never fully disappear. In the end, a film that might have centered on the morality of the death penalty, takes us in another direction entirely. Our focus is always Paul Edgecomb. His moral strength and eventual spiritual test are offered to us as a testimony. Hanks' performance forces us to examine our own lives. Can we recognize the good in those around us and, more importantly, can we resist the evil?
Rating:
Summary: Awesome.
Review: A joy to watch. Everyone I know who has seen it really likes it. The acting was excellent. Tom Hanks, of course, is the main character of this film but I think that Michael Clarke Duncan outshines even Mr. Oscars in his gentle characterization of John Coffee (Coffy?). I can't say that the plot is too original: the "usual suspect" is innocent but is in jail because of his color and his circumstance. The other events in the film, however, such as Hank's "healing" and the discovery of the real murderer are a redeeming factor, as are the actors.
This is a tearjerker, so be warned!
Rating:
Summary: Long But Popular Movie
Review: I finally got to see this film and its great. It is about a man's life while working at a Death Row Prison and Stars Tom Hanks who runs it. It's a prison during the depression era in Louisiana USA. The movie has some very gripping and disturbing scenes which some viewers may find hard to stomach as there are the terrible scenes of executions in the infamous electric chair. Paul Edgecomb(Tom Hanks) comes to know a man in prison with a special gift i.e. John Coffey (played by Michael Duncan). There are some pretty disturbing images in this movie. The way the film is set up, Paul is a elderly man telling his personal accounts of things that happen during his years at the prison.
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