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The Green Mile (film)

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The Green Mile
The words Tom Hanks, a prison guard looking to the distance, below the words The Green Mile, in the middle of the words, a small silhouette of a big man and small man walking towards a light.
Theatrical release poster
Directed byFrank Darabont
Screenplay byFrank Darabont
Based onThe Green Mile
by Stephen King
Produced by
Starring
CinematographyDavid Tattersall
Edited byRichard Francis-Bruce
Music byThomas Newman
Production
companies
Distributed by
Release date
  • December 10, 1999 (1999-12-10) (United States)
Running time
189 minutes[3]
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$60 million
Box office$286.8 million[4]

The Green Mile is a 1999 American fantasy crime drama film written and directed by Frank Darabont and based on the 1996 novel by Stephen King. It stars Tom Hanks as a death row prison guard during the Great Depression who witnesses supernatural events following the arrival of an enigmatic convict (Michael Clarke Duncan) at his facility. David Morse, Bonnie Hunt, and James Cromwell appear in supporting roles.

The film premiered in the United States on December 10, 1999, to positive reviews from critics, who praised Darabont's direction and writing, emotional weight, and performances (particularly for Hanks and Duncan), although its length received criticism. It was a commercial success, grossing $286.8 million from its $60 million budget, and was nominated for four Academy Awards: Best Picture, Best Supporting Actor for Duncan, Best Sound, and Best Adapted Screenplay.

Plot

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In 1935, corrections officer Paul Edgecomb oversees "The Green Mile," the death row section of Cold Mountain Penitentiary, alongside officers Brutus Howell, Dean Stanton, Harry Terwilliger, and the sadistic and despised Percy Wetmore, whose connections to the state governor shield him from punishment. The guards supervise three prisoners: Eduard Delacroix, who is frequently tormented by Percy; the violent and erratic William Wharton; and John Coffey, a hulking yet gentle and simple-minded African-American man convicted of murdering two white girls after being found distraught while cradling their bodies. John asserts that he tried to "take it back" but could not.

Paul grows doubtful that John committed the crimes and soon discovers he possesses miraculous healing abilities. John cures Paul's crippling bladder infection by absorbing it into himself before expelling it as flies, explaining that he "took it back". After Percy crushes Eduard's pet mouse, Mr. Jingles, John urgently requests the body and resurrects it, further convincing the guards of his powers.

Fed up with Percy's behavior, the officers let him officiate an execution on the condition that he takes a job at Briar Ridge insane asylum afterward. At Eduard's execution, Percy deliberately neglects to wet the sponge meant to conduct electricity, causing Eduard an agonizing death. John senses and is overwhelmed by Eduard's pain, causing him to inadvertently transfer some of his power into Mr. Jingles, who scurries away.

Paul convinces the guards—excluding Percy—to take John to heal the warden's good-hearted, terminally ill wife, Melinda. They restrain Percy and confine him to a padded cell before sneaking John out of the prison to the warden's home. John absorbs Melinda's illness, restoring her health, but is left in severe pain from containing it within him. The guards return John to his cell, and release Percy, but John grabs hold of and transfers the illness into Percy, who, in a possessed state, shoots Wharton dead. Paul demands answers, leading John to transfer into him Wharton's memories of murdering the two girls. Percy is left catatonic and later committed to Briar Ridge.

Though convinced of John's innocence, Paul cannot prove it or stop the execution. He offers John a chance to escape, believing it unacceptable to destroy what he considers to be a true miracle. John, however, exhausted by the pain he endures from constantly sensing the suffering and ugliness that people inflict on each other, chooses to die. His last request is to watch a movie, never having seen one before, so he, Paul, and the other officers watch Top Hat.

On the day of his execution, John tells the guards of his last dream, in which he and the two girls are safe and happy. In the electrocution chamber, John is saddened by the hatred he feels from those in attendance who believe him guilty. Brutus encourages him to focus on the guards, who do not fear or hate him. John requests not to wear a hood, as he is afraid of the dark. Paul briefly takes John's hand before the tearful officers reluctantly carry out the execution.

In 1999, a 108-year-old Paul watches Top Hat and, reminded of the events, recounts John's story to his friend Elaine, revealing it was the last execution he and Brutus performed before transferring to juvenile corrections. Skeptical, Elaine is stunned when Paul reveals Mr. Jingles, still alive and healthy. While she calls Paul's longevity a miracle, he sees it as a divine punishment for allowing John to die, having outlived all his loved ones. After Elaine's funeral, Paul wonders how much longer he will live if a mouse's life could be so significantly extended, lamenting, "Sometimes, the Green Mile seems so long."

Cast

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A photograph of Tom Hanks
A photograph of David Morse
A photograph of Sam Rockwell
A photograph of James Cromwell
(Left to right) Tom Hanks (pictured in 2019), David Morse (2015), Sam Rockwell (2009) and James Cromwell (2010)

Production

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Development

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Frank Darabont adapted Stephen King's novel, The Green Mile, into a screenplay in under eight weeks.[5]

The film was shot at Warner Hollywood Studios, West Hollywood, California; and on location in Shelbyville, Tennessee; Blowing Rock, North Carolina;[6] and the old Tennessee State Prison.[7] The interior sets were custom built by production designer Terence Marsh. "We tried to give our set a sense of space. A sense of history. And a sense of mystery, in a way. We chose the elongated cathedral-like windows because there is a very mystical element in this movie, a supernatural element [...] It presented us with lots of opportunities", he said.[8] The electric chair was also a bespoke design, and was inspired by real prisons which have the device.[8]

The film title refers to the stretch of green floor that the hallway inmates walk down before they are to be executed by electric chair.[9]

Casting

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Tom Hanks and Darabont met at an Academy Award luncheon in 1994. Stephen King stated he envisioned Hanks in the role and was happy when Darabont mentioned his name.[5] Hanks was originally supposed to play elderly Paul Edgecomb as well, but the makeup tests did not make him look credible enough to be an elderly man.[10] Because of this, Dabbs Greer was hired to play the older Edgecomb, his final film role.

Michael Clarke Duncan credited his casting to Bruce Willis, with whom he had worked on the film Armageddon one year earlier. According to Duncan, Willis introduced him to Darabont after hearing of the open call for John Coffey.[11] Basketball player Shaquille O'Neal has stated he turned down the role of John Coffey.[12] Josh Brolin was considered for the role of William "Wild Bill" Wharton.[10]

David Morse had not heard about the script until he was offered the role. He stated he was in tears by the end of it.[5] Darabont wanted James Cromwell from the start, and after he read the script, Cromwell was moved and agreed.[5]

Music

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The official film soundtrack, Music from the Motion Picture The Green Mile, was released on December 19, 1999, by Warner Bros. It contains 37 tracks, primarily instrumental tracks from the film score by Thomas Newman. It also contains four vocal tracks: "Cheek to Cheek" by Fred Astaire, "I Can't Give You Anything but Love, Baby" by Billie Holiday, "Did You Ever See a Dream Walking?" by Gene Austin, and "Charmaine" by Guy Lombardo and His Royal Canadians.

Release

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Box office

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In the United States and Canada, The Green Mile opened on December 10, 1999, in 2,875 theaters and grossed $18 million in its opening weekend, placing second at the box office, just behind Toy Story 2 with $18.2 million, although Warner Bros. insisted that The Green Mile was the number one film.[13] However, it did finish first for the week with $23.9 million compared to Toy Story 2's $22.1 million.[14][15] It remained at number two in its second weekend and in the top 10 for 10 weeks but never reached number one for the weekend.[16] It went on to gross $136.8 million in the U.S. and Canada and $150 million in other territories, bringing a worldwide total of $286.8 million, against its production budget of $60 million.[16] It was the second highest-grosser in Japan for the year with a gross of $55.3 million.[17]

Reception

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Critical response

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On Rotten Tomatoes The Green Mile holds an approval rating of 79% based on 136 reviews with an average rating of 6.80/10. The website's critics consensus states, "Though The Green Mile is long, critics say it's an absorbing, emotionally powerful experience."[18] At Metacritic the film has a weighted average score of 61 out of 100, based on 36 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[19] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale.[20]

Film critic Roger Ebert gave the film three and a half out of four stars, writing, "The film is a shade over three hours long. I appreciated the extra time, which allows us to feel the passage of prison months and years ... it tells a story with beginning, middle, end, vivid characters, humor, outrage and emotional release".[21] Writing for Entertainment Weekly, Lisa Schwarzbaum also took note of the film's length, but praised Tom Hanks' "superior" performance and Darabont's direction. "Darabont's style of picture making is well matched to King-size yarn spinning. The director isn't afraid to let big emotions and grand gestures linger", she said.[22]

San Francisco Chronicle's Edward Guthmann thought the cinematography was "handsome", and the music was "florid and melodramatic". He added, "Darabont is such a committed filmmaker, and believes so earnestly and intensely in the stories he puts onscreen".[23] Desson Thomson of The Washington Post called the storytelling "brilliant", and said "From its deceptively easygoing beginning to the heart-wrenching finale, The Green Mile keeps you wonderfully high above the cynical ground."[24]

Some critics had a less positive response. Kirk Honeycutt of The Hollywood Reporter opined, "By inflating the simple story with a languorous pace, pregnant pauses, long reaction shots and an infinitely slow metabolism, Darabont has burdened his movie version with more self-importance than it can possibly sustain."[25] While complimenting the production design and soundtrack, the critic from Timeout magazine thought some scenes were tiresome and the film "suffers from a surfeit of plot threads and characters".[26]

Writing for the BBC, Clark Collis criticized the film's length and pacing.[27] David Ansen of Newsweek thought The Green Mile was weaker than Darabont's previous film, The Shawshank Redemption (1994). He stated, The Green Mile is a "lumbering, self-important three-hour melodrama that defies credibility at every turn".[28]

Stephen King praised the film adaptation, although he felt the film was a little "soft" in some ways. He added, "I like to joke with Frank that his movie was really the first R-rated Hallmark Hall of Fame production. For a story that is set on death row, it has a really feel-good, praise-the-human condition sentiment to it. I certainly don’t have a problem with that because I am a sentimentalist at heart."[29]

African American

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The depiction of Coffey was considered among some in the African American community to be "somewhat of an embarrassment", even among those who enjoyed the film. Such viewers saw the Coffey to be too complacent in being seen as "one more" black rapist and as having a shallow backstory.[30]

Accolades

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Award Category Recipients Result Ref.
Academy Awards Best Picture David Valdes and Frank Darabont Nominated [31]
Best Actor in a Supporting Role Michael Clarke Duncan Nominated
Best Adapted Screenplay Frank Darabont Nominated
Best Sound Robert J. Litt, Elliot Tyson,
Michael Herbick and Willie D. Burton 		Nominated
Black Reel Awards Best Supporting Actor Michael Clarke Duncan Won [32]
Blockbuster Entertainment Awards Favorite Actor – Drama Tom Hanks Won [33]
Favorite Supporting Actor – Drama Michael Clarke Duncan Nominated
Favorite Supporting Actress – Drama Bonnie Hunt Nominated
BMI Film & TV Awards Film Music Award Thomas Newman Won [34]
Bram Stoker Awards Best Screenplay Frank Darabont Nominated [35]
Broadcast Film Critics Association Awards Best Film The Green Mile Nominated [36]
Best Screenplay, Adaptation Frank Darabont Won
Best Supporting Actor Michael Clarke Duncan Won
Chicago Film Critics Association Best Supporting Actor Nominated
Most Promising Actor Nominated
Directors Guild of America Awards Outstanding Directorial Achievement Frank Darabont Nominated [37]
Golden Globe Awards Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture Michael Clarke Duncan Nominated [38]
Golden Satellite Awards Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture Doug Hutchison Nominated
NAACP Image Awards Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture Michael Clarke Duncan Nominated [39]
MTV Movie Awards Best Breakthrough Male Performance Nominated [40]
Motion Picture Sound Editors
(Golden Reel Awards) 		Best Sound Editing – Dialogue and ADR Mark A. Mangini, Julia Evershade Nominated [41]
Best Sound Editing – Effects and Foley Mark A. Mangini, Aaron Glascock, Howell Gibbens,
David E. Stone, Solange S. Schwalbe 		Nominated
People's Choice Awards Favorite All-Around Motion Picture The Green Mile Won [42]
Favorite Dramatic Motion Picture Won
Saturn Awards Best Action/Adventure/Thriller Film Won
Best Director Frank Darabont Nominated
Best Supporting Actor Michael Clarke Duncan Won
Best Supporting Actress Patricia Clarkson Won
Best Music Thomas Newman Nominated
Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America
(Nebula Award) 		Best Script Frank Darabont Nominated [43]
Screen Actors Guild Awards Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor
in a Supporting Role 		Michael Clarke Duncan Nominated [44]
Outstanding Performance by a Cast
in a Motion Picture 		The Green Mile Nominated

Home media

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The film was released on VHS and DVD on June 13, 2000 by Warner Home Video.[45][46] The film earned $17.45 million in combined DVD and VHS rental revenue by June 18, 2000.[45]

The Blu-ray was released on December 1, 2009. A remastered 4K UHD Blu-ray was released on February 22, 2022.

Notes

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  1. ^ Universal Pictures International (formerly PolyGram Filmed Entertainment) distributed The Green Mile in eleven international territories under a deal PolyGram had made with Castle Rock.[1] Elsewhere, Warner Bros., which also distributed in the United States and Canada, distributed excluding territories where it did not directly operate; Universal sold distribution rights in such territories to independent distributors.[2]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Harris, Dana (June 19, 2000). "Telco at Castle door". Variety. Archived from the original on January 7, 2023. Retrieved July 27, 2022.
  2. ^ Groves, Don (October 8, 1999). "'Eyes' to close UPI slate". Variety. Archived from the original on January 9, 2022. Retrieved July 27, 2022.
  3. ^ "The Green Mile (18)". British Board of Film Classification. Retrieved January 15, 2025.
  4. ^ "The Green Mile". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on October 7, 2022. Retrieved June 7, 2020.
  5. ^ a b c d "About the Film". WarnerBros.com. Archived from the original on November 8, 2011. Retrieved November 1, 2011.
  6. ^ Darabont, Frank (December 10, 1999). The Green Mile (motion picture). United States: Warner Bros.
  7. ^ Fedschun, Travis (March 4, 2020). "Nashville tornado struck Old Tennessee State Prison, where 'The Green Mile,' 'Walk the Line' were filmed". Fox News. Archived from the original on March 5, 2020. Retrieved March 4, 2020.
  8. ^ a b "The Green Mile - Movie Production Notes..." www.cinemareview.com. Archived from the original on June 9, 2020. Retrieved June 9, 2020.
  9. ^ Rainer, Peter (December 20, 1999). ""The Green Mile" - Nymag". New York Magazine. Archived from the original on April 30, 2022. Retrieved April 30, 2022.
  10. ^ a b Arbeiter, M. (May 14, 2015). "15 Things You Might Not Know About The Green Mile". Mental Floss. Archived from the original on January 28, 2019. Retrieved January 27, 2019.
  11. ^ Doty, Meriah (September 4, 2012). "Bruce Willis helped Michael Clarke Duncan get his Oscar caliber role". Yahoo! Movies. Archived from the original on April 14, 2014. Retrieved April 13, 2014.
  12. ^ McCarriston, Shanna (November 12, 2021). "Shaquille O'Neal reveals why he turned down role in 'The Green Mile'". CBS Sports. Archived from the original on December 9, 2021. Retrieved December 8, 2021.
  13. ^ Hayes, Dade (April 10, 2000). "Side door to century club". Variety. p. 9.
  14. ^ "Domestic 1999 Weekend 50". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on January 11, 2023. Retrieved June 6, 2022.
  15. ^ "Domestic 1999 Week 50". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on January 11, 2023. Retrieved June 6, 2022.
  16. ^ a b "The Green Mile". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on October 7, 2022. Retrieved July 26, 2021.
  17. ^ Herskovitz, Jon (January 29, 2001). "Japan's plex boom unmatched by B.O". Variety. p. 58.
  18. ^ "The Green Mile (1999)". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango. Archived from the original on May 24, 2024. Retrieved February 27, 2022.
  19. ^ "The Green Mile Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on August 16, 2015. Retrieved September 25, 2015.
  20. ^ "Find CinemaScore" (Type "Green Mile" in the search box). CinemaScore. Retrieved August 3, 2020. [better source needed]
  21. ^ Ebert, Roger (December 10, 1999). "The Green Mile". RogerEbert.com. Archived from the original on July 30, 2020. Retrieved June 7, 2020.
  22. ^ Schwarzbaum, Lisa (December 10, 1999). "The Green Mile". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on June 7, 2020. Retrieved June 7, 2020.
  23. ^ Guthmann, Edward (December 10, 1999). "Miles to Go / At three hours, earnest prison drama starts to seem like a life sentence". San Francisco Chronicle. Archived from the original on June 7, 2020. Retrieved June 7, 2020.
  24. ^ Thomson, Desson (December 9, 1999). "'The Green Mile': Above and Beyond (washingtonpost.com)". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on June 8, 2020. Retrieved June 7, 2020.
  25. ^ Honeycutt, Kirk (November 29, 1999). "'The Green Mile': THR's 1999 Review". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on June 7, 2020. Retrieved June 7, 2020.
  26. ^ Adams, Derek (June 24, 2006). "The Green Mile". Time Out Worldwide. Archived from the original on June 7, 2020. Retrieved June 7, 2020.
  27. ^ Collis, Clark (January 8, 2001). "BBC - Films - review - The Green Mile". www.bbc.co.uk. Archived from the original on June 5, 2020. Retrieved June 7, 2020.
  28. ^ Ansen, David (December 12, 1999). "The Executioner's Song". Newsweek. Archived from the original on June 7, 2020. Retrieved June 7, 2020.
  29. ^ Kennedy, Michael. "What Stephen King Thinks Of Every Adaptation (Movies & TV Shows)". ScreenRant. Retrieved February 10, 2025.
  30. ^ Bogle, Donald (2003). Toms, Coons, Mulattoes, Mammies, and Bucks: An Interpretive History of Blacks in American Films (4th ed.). New York: Continuum International Publishing Group. p. 430. ISBN 0-8264-1267-X.
  31. ^ Lyman, Rick (March 28, 2000). "Oscar Victory Finally Lifts the Cloud for DreamWorks". The New York Times. Archived from the original on January 8, 2016. Retrieved November 4, 2011.
  32. ^ "BRAs Winners". Black Reel Awards. February 21, 2016. Archived from the original on February 26, 2016. Retrieved June 6, 2020.
  33. ^ "Blockbuster Entertainment Award winners". Variety. May 9, 2000. Archived from the original on March 3, 2016. Retrieved June 6, 2020.
  34. ^ "BMI Honors Top Film and TV Composers". Broadcast Music, Inc. May 15, 2000. Archived from the original on July 3, 2018. Retrieved June 4, 2021.
  35. ^ "Past Bram Stoker Nominees & Winners". Horror Writers Association. 2009. Archived from the original on October 9, 2014. Retrieved June 6, 2020.
  36. ^ Clinton, Paul (January 25, 2000). "CNN - Critic's Choice Awards echo Golden Globes - January 25, 2000". edition.cnn.com. CNN. Archived from the original on June 6, 2020. Retrieved June 6, 2020.
  37. ^ "Liz Ryan and Barbara J. Roche to be Honored for Guild Service and Career Achievement at the 60th Annual DGA Awards -". www.dga.org. December 20, 2007. Archived from the original on June 6, 2020. Retrieved June 6, 2020.
  38. ^ "Green Mile, The". www.goldenglobes.com. Archived from the original on June 6, 2020. Retrieved June 6, 2020.
  39. ^ Ikard, David; Sharpley-Whiting, T. Denean (2017). Lovable racists, magical Negroes, and White messiahs. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press. p. 61. ISBN 978-0-226-49246-9. OCLC 971130590.
  40. ^ Vice, Jeff (April 23, 2000). "MTV 'awards' are dubious". Deseret News. Archived from the original on June 6, 2020. Retrieved June 6, 2020.
  41. ^ "Sound editors tap noms for best of 1999". Variety. January 12, 2000. Archived from the original on August 9, 2020. Retrieved June 6, 2020.
  42. ^ "People's Choice Awards". E! Online. Archived from the original on October 16, 2015. Retrieved June 6, 2020.
  43. ^ Smith, Kevin (April 28, 2001). "2000 Nebula Awards". The Nebula Awards. Archived from the original on January 29, 2022. Retrieved June 6, 2020.
  44. ^ "The 6th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards | Screen Actors Guild Awards". www.sagawards.org. Archived from the original on April 8, 2022. Retrieved June 6, 2020.
  45. ^ a b Mccourt, Judith (June 22, 2000). "Renters See 'Green' as Hanks Title Breaks Debut Record". videostoremag.com. Archived from the original on November 2, 2000. Retrieved October 14, 2019.
  46. ^ Wolf, Jessica (April 27, 2001). "Retailers See a Hot Summer of Video and DVD Ahead". hive4media.com. Archived from the original on June 20, 2001. Retrieved September 8, 2019.
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