**½/**** Image A Sound A Extras D
starring Tom Hanks, Michael Clarke Duncan, David Morse, Doug Hutchison
screenplay by Frank Darabont, based on the serialized novel by Stephen King
directed by Frank Darabont
by Vincent Suarez In his review of The Thin Red Line, your host at FILM FREAK CENTRAL laments that viewers often are inclined to choose whether they prefer that film or its contemporary, Saving Private Ryan. I find that the same unfortunate phenomenon exists among those who’ve seen both of Frank Darabont’s first two films, The Shawshank Redemption and The Green Mile. (Curiously, Tom Hanks stars in each pair of films.) While the two share many traits (their prison setting, their writer-director, and their source material: short stories by Stephen King), they are vastly different films. For while The Shawshank Redemption is an institutional morality tale, The Green Mile is a death-row fairy tale.
In keeping with its Mother Goose nature, the film is an extended flashback framed by a prologue and epilogue featuring the now elderly Paul Edgecomb (Hanks in the body of the film, Dabbs Greer in its framing sequences), a frail and troubled retired prison guard. Edgecomb recounts 1935, “the year of John Coffey,” a death-row inmate the memory of whom is haunting Paul. Coffey (Michael Clarke Duncan), an imposing but sweet-natured “gentle giant,” is imprisoned in E block, where Edgecomb and his fellow guards caretake an assortment of mostly benign convicted murderers awaiting execution by electrocution. While also questioning his guilt, Edgecomb discovers that Coffey possesses supernatural healing powers.
As for plot, that’s pretty much it. However, there is plenty of subplot. And it is here that the film’s primary strengths and weaknesses are manifested. In gradually developing the full power of Coffey’s “gift,” Coffey successively rids Edgecomb of a painful urinary tract infection, resurrects a dead mouse, and heals the cancer-ridden wife (Patricia Clarkson) of the warden (James Cromwell). The benevolence of Edgecomb and his cohorts is contrasted with the increasing sadism of the outcast prison guard Percy Wetmore (Doug Hutchison). Lastly, in exploring Coffey’s guilt, we eventually meet the perpetrator of the crimes for which Coffey has been sentenced, fellow inmate Wild Bill Wharton (Sam Rockwell).
These segments often make for undeniably compelling drama, allowing The Green Mile‘s 188 minutes to move along at an impressive clip, and it is in this regard that its subplots best serve the film. (There are more dramatic arcs than in just about any other movie in recent memory.) Also, Darabont has been blessed with a wealth of fine actors who each, when given their moment to shine, do so quite brightly; in the lead roles, ol’ reliable Hanks and newcomer/Academy Award nominee Duncan are impeccable, while the supporting performances invariably hit the right note. Without these many threads, The Green Mile would surely lose much of what makes it worth watching.
Alas, the cumulative effect of the predominant tone of these subplots, coupled with the fantastical elements of the main narrative, give the film its fairy tale feeling–which, for me, is to its detriment. Much like the concentration camp in Life is Beautiful, this has to be the most pleasant, antiseptic prison on Earth! With only a couple of notable exceptions, the guards are chummy with the inmates, the warden seems like a nice guy (Tom Hanks likes him, so he must be), the convicts appear incapable of having committed their crimes, and their impending executions are met with dignity, wisdom, and soulfulness. The electric chair even has a cute nickname (“Old Sparky”), and there’s an enchanting stunt-mouse to boot!
Even the locale has a storybook quality, exemplified by E block’s floor that is “the colour of faded limes,” the titular Green Mile. To be sure, the film is not without its horrific elements (what fairy tale is?), the most brutal of which are the expertly-staged execution scenes. Yet all of the evil incarnate that is typical of the grittiest of prison films is embodied in just two characters, one on each side of the law: Percy and Wild Bill. Of course, each receives his just desserts.
This is not to say that I require a prison film to be filled with the relentless misery I imagine characterizes the experience of incarceration. Still, I found it all too neat (and less challenging to the filmmakers) to parade before us characters whose integrity (or lack thereof) fits so nicely into the narrative framework desired. It would have been much more interesting, and there would have been a greater moral dilemma, were Coffey a divinely gifted individual who was also capable of murder, and had he been asked to work his magic on much more complicated characters than the ones populating this story.
Further removing The Green Mile from the realm of the morality tale–and landing it squarely in the less significant realm of the fairy tale–is the fact that it hedges its bets on what initially looked to be its one saving grace: an anti-death penalty stance. After so forcefully portraying the cruelty of electrocution, Coffey’s trip to the chair is exactly what the character wishes, a crucifixion-like sacrifice in which he’s relieved of the burden of his powers while paying for our sins of prejudgment and misunderstanding. What I would have given for an ounce of the dilemma that faces both the characters and the audience during the last 15 minutes of Tim Robbins’s overwrought but honest Dead Man Walking.
THE DVD
This powerful yet ultimately unsatisfying film is, fortunately, given a most-satisfying release on DVD. Warner has graced The Green Mile with a beautiful 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer, which looks stunning on a 16:9 monitor. My only real complaint is that colours are slightly muted compared to my recollection of the theatrical presentation, though not terribly so. There is also the occasional hint of grain, which I tend to find appealing. Likewise, the Dolby Digital 5.1 track is a delight, nicely reproducing Thomas Newman’s often majestic score (it’s weakest in its less-symphonic moments, where, in fact, it echoes his work in American Beauty) and the frequently subtle dialogue. Be prepared, however, for some stunning sonic moments not frequently found in dramas, particularly during the electrocution sequences; you may think you smell smoke when Old Sparky and his guests sizzle.
It’s too bad that Warner has yet to go the 2-disc Special Edition route taken by its competitors. Less recognized films like The Abyss and Fight Club (heck, even Army of Darkness) have been given the double-disc treatment, while the Best Picture-nominated The Green Mile must suffice with the barest of supplements. Granted, Warner deserves credit for making sure that the bulk of the space within the disc of this lengthy film was devoted to maximizing its look and sound, but a more extensive look at the production would have been greatly appreciated. As it stands, we’re given attractively animated menus, brief and only mildly interesting production notes, the typical cast & crew bios and filmographies, and an anamorphic, 5.1 trailer. The one true supplement, a 10-minute promotional “featurette,” is of little consequence. Warner really should have gone the extra Mile.
188 minutes; R; 1.85:1 (16×9-enhanced); English DD 5.1; CC; English, French subtitles; DVD-9; Region One; Warner
