You mean I have been missing????? Been playing Asheron's Call, Dark Majesty! Talk about addictive!...
You mean I have been missing????? Been playing Asheron's Call, Dark Majesty! Talk about addictive! If you decide to play use the World 'Morningthaw and look for Wayndor! (me)
Member since:02.01.2002
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In 1996, Stephen King wrote six books about life on death row. The serialisation was set in Cold Mountain Penitentiary. The original books had the titles, The Two Dead Girls, The Mouse On the Mile, Coffey’s Hands, The Bad Death of Eduard Delacroix, Night Journey and Coffey on the Mile.
I can still remember waiting each month for the next book to be released and had placed an order to ensure I would get my copy. It is amazing how long a month is when you have enjoyed a story and are waiting for your next fix. The books themselves always left me wanting more and I was elated when I learned that the books were being turned into a film!
‘The Green Mile’, so called because the floor of Death Row was green, was released in 1999, with a running time of just over 3 hours, much longer than the standard one and a half hours, this film is a marathon. In fact I think marathons have been run in less time.
The narrative is set in 1935 and centres around a prison guard Paul Edgecombe(Hanks) who develops a relationship with an inmate named John Coffey (Duncan). Coffey, is an absolute giant of a man, has been sentenced to death for the rape and murder of two little girls. Found in a field by the search party, weeping and cradling the bloodstained bodies of the two infants, it was decided he was guilty before he even went to court! It becomes obvious that he didn’t commit the murders, but has been sentenced to death and is sent to the ‘Green Mile’. Coffey is a gentle man. I do not think he appears in even one scene where he isn’t crying or looks as though
he has been. It is like Coffey has taken the burdens of the world upon his shoulders and the world leaves him weeping. Everything in the film becomes obvious whereas in the books it didn’t. The good are good, the bad are bad! I seriously think it was no accident that the initials JC were used (initials the same as someone important in our past from 2000 years ago)! The pity of this film is that we couldn’t spend more time getting to know Coffey, this huge man with his fear of the dark, "do you leave the lights on at night. I'm scared of the dark in places I don't know too well".
The concept of this man walking the earth for the sole reason of drawing sickness and evil out of the bodies of anyone he wishes to is almost divine. This godlike gift becomes more and more obvious as the movie goes on. Paul Edgecombe (Hanks), has a urinary infection which is causing him extreme pain, and one scene where he is struggling to go to the toilet, still manages to make me wince! Thank god, Coffey was there to help him get rid of the affliction , reaching through the bars of his cell to grab hold of Edgecombe’s crotch. You can see the look of horror/concern etched on Edgecombe’s face! Releasing Edgecombe’s groin, Coffey stands back and opens his mouth releasing black particles that look like flies. These particles fly up from Coffey to disappear near the ceiling astounding Paul Edgecombe. A bonus for him is that his intimate life with his wife improves dramatically!
With good comes evil and we have both an evil guard, Percy Wetmore (Doug Hutchison) and inmate, William "Wild Bill" Wharton (Sam Rockwell). Some of the best scenes, I feel come when these two appear in them.
Percy is played perfectly! You can see what a wimp he is and yet given the uniform and power (he is the governors nephew), he turns into an ogre. There is definitely a bit of S/M going on here as he revels in the despair and pain of the inmates and desires more than anything to see and play a part in an execution.
Wild Bill on the other hand is just totally insane. He is a danger to all around him and you can never be sure how he is going to react. He is like a volcano waiting to erupt and the tension is almost palpable at times. Excellent acting and a powerful character built up by a master novelist.
There is also the French accented Eduard "Del" Delacroix, who befriends an amazingly gifted mouse. He sits for hours in his cell training the mouse to do tricks. When the mouse is crushed by Percy Wetmore in an act of deliberate sadism, Coffey astounds both prisoners and wardens alike, by breathing life back into the dead rodent.
This seems to annoy Percy even more and he manages to get himself in charge of Delacroix’s execution. Rather than water the important areas, where the current is applied, to aid ‘Old Sparky’, in sending .Eduard "Del" Delacroix to his death, Percy pretends that the sponge is wet, even though he knows this will cause the inmate to die in agony.
I seem to remember the mouse being more important to the plot in the book. This didn’t really transfer over to the big screen and the mouse becomes just a way to fill time in the movie. I would have been happier if they had been able to demonstrate somewhere in the film the mystical properties the mouse was also thought to have.
Overall I think the movie is a hit. It doesn’t rate as high as the Shawshank Redemption but then they are two totally different types of film. This film makes you laugh and cry. It takes your emotions and plays with them like no other film I have seen.
We share the feeling of helplessness as the inevitable death of Coffey approaches. By this time we know he isn’t guilty, but like the wardens there is nothing we the viewer can do and there is a real feeling of injustice.
In conclusion it is just left to say that the 3 hours and 8 minutes of this film flew by. I enjoyed the acting, the sets were superb as too were the costumes. The whole film is was made by real professionals, who must have been proud of their work. No matter where you watch ‘The Green Mile’, I know you will enjoy it! Unless perhaps you are in prison?
Cast
Tom Hanks …………………. Paul Edgecombe (Younger) Dabbs Greer …………………Paul Edgecombe (Elder) Michael Clarke Duncan ……. John Coffey Sam Rockwell ………………William "Wild Bill" Wharton Michael Jeter ………………..Eduard "Del" Delacroix David Morse ……………….. "Brutal" Brutus Howell Bonnie Hunt …………………Jan Edgecombe James Cromwell …………….Warden Hal Moores Graham Greene ……………..Arlen Bitterbuck Doug Hutchison ……………. Percy Wetmore Barry Pepper ………………..Dean Stanton Jeffrey DeMunn …………….Harry Terwilliger Patricia Clarkson ……………Melinda Moores Harry Dean Stanton …………Toot-Toot Eve Brent ……………………Elaine Connely Gary Sinise has a cameo role as Burt Hammersmith
Director…………….. Frank Darabont Producers…………….Frank Darabont, David Valdes Screenplay……………Frank Darabont based on the novel by Stephen King Cinematography……..David Tattersall Music………………..Thomas Newman
4 Academy Awards Nominations! Best Picture Best Supporting Actor - Michael Clarke Duncan Best Screenplay (Adapted) - Frank Darabont Best Sound
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i loved this film and it seem more funny then sad so that one good thing about it
great review
gemmawild 13.10.2003 12:10
I wasn't aware this was a series of books. I might have to give them ago, even though I'm not a book worm. Gem x
ammortiser 27.01.2002 02:41
Well written and greatly enjoyable to read. You are right to note the oversimplification that inevitably comes when a story transfers from book to film. A brief mention for the mouse though please. Thanks, David.
"The book was better" has been the complaint of many a reader since the invention of ... more
films.The Green Mileis Frank Darabont's second adaptation of a Stephen King prison dramaThe Shawshank Redemptionwas the first) and is a very faithful adaptation of Kin...
Postage & Packaging: Free! Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours...
"The book was better" has been the complaint of many a reader since the invention of ... more
films.The Green Mileis Frank Darabont's second adaptation of a Stephen King prison dramaThe Shawshank Redemptionwas the first) and is a very faithful adaptation of Kin...
Postage & Packaging: £1.21 Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
Paul Edgecomb (Tom Hanks) is a slightly cynical veteran prison guard on death row in the ... more
1930's. Hi faith, and sanity, deteriorated by watching men live and die, Edgecomb is about to have a complete turn around in attitude. Enter John Coffey (Oscar nom...
![The Green Mile [DVD] [2000]](http://picnicb.ciao.com/uk/78527693.jpg "The Green Mile [DVD] [2000]")
Jan 5th, 2002
(Jan 9th, 2002)
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