THE GREEN MILE review

What a year I am having in the theater! Beginning with MATRIX and ELECTION and just pushing on through to the end... There have been a great deal of really wonderful... and even great movies.

But... about a year and a half to two years ago I said that THE top movie of the year would be... THE GREEN MILE. That was from reading the script... and without the knowledge of what a strong year this would be.

Well, I’ve seen THE GREEN MILE and it is quite honestly the movie I thought it was going to be. Tom Hanks was the Paul Edgecomb I felt he could be, along with everyone else in the cast... I knew the casting was perfect. With Tattersall on board as his DP I was very confident in this film.

The keys to the film were going to be how it all came together. Did those opening and closing sequences fit? Would the effects not look.... goofy? Would the film not feel claustrophobic? Strangely enough, I never had doubts about the emotional side of this movie. I knew Frank would deliver there. It was the details... the cracks... I was afraid that some sort of fatal virus may enter through there and I’d see it and go... UGH... YUCK.... PATOOIE!

But... It wasn’t there. I saw it at the world premiere in Los Angeles on Monday night. The premiere was an interesting place to see this. I tell you... Being at a WARNER BROTHERS premiere... I have never sensed such a room filled with love for me. (Being sarcastic as all hell)

Moriarty and I had assigned seats.... They were all the way to the left side of this gigantic theater, thereby creating the ‘oblong screen effect’ that comes with those seats. I hate these seats. Moriarty begins looking for suits to kill. But I calm him and say, “If this is the movie it is supposed to be, then it shouldn’t matter where we are in this theater... It should get us.”

The old bloke’s pulse calmed, and we stared at the shadow of John Coffey and Paul Edgecomb upon the curtains hiding the screen.

Then we awaited the film.

Darabont went up and did the “I’d like to thank everyone that contributed to the making of this movie” speech, and got out of the way... and the movie started.

This film is not long. Not to me anyway. I sat down and read Darabont’s script in just a little over three hours. And that is the length of time it took Darabont to tell the story as well.

This movie is being told by an elderly man, a tired man. And as stories by older folks are often told... it takes it’s time. It unfolds like a 1930’s 24 sheet that has been unrestored. Delicately with care and love. It is a fragile story. Ultimately it’s the story of how one man went from indifference to caring. It’s not your typical prison fare.

There is no threat of rape. It isn’t a break out movie. It’s not about waiting for a stay of execution. It’s not about getting out. Instead, it is about endings... a series of endings that take place on Death Row. Each one has a story that has pieces of the next story... till you finally build to the story that doesn’t quite have an ending.

The funny thing is this... After the film at the ‘industry party’ I kept running into suits that felt that if it were shorter.... it’d be a great film. However, when I asked what should be cut, they would respond with, “The unimportant parts,” and I would say, “Like?” and they would say, “I don’t know... but it could be shorter.” and that would be the end of the conversation.

There seemed to be a somewhat elitist quality to these conversations. As if, after taking it all in... and faced with having to have a criticism, because oh that is sooooo important, the person would say, “It’s too long.”

How long is the proper length of a movie?

I mean, FRANKENSTEIN (1931) is 70 minutes long, while BEN HUR (1959) is 212 minutes long. I think both are the perfect length. Why? Because that’s how long or short those stories are. And, it happens to take Paul Edgecomb and Frank Darabont 180 minutes to tell this tale.

Did I feel it? No.

Instead what I felt was a story that reached into me and manipulated my emotions masterfully.

Is manipulation a bad thing?

Some people seem to think so. Spielberg is shouldered with this criticism, as was Frank Capra. Master Manipulators they are called. I believe the same can be said of Frank Darabont. He is a master manipulator. A cinematic Geppeto pulling our strings.

He takes us from the first execution... which we care little about.... builds to the next one.... which begins to hurt a bit.... to the final one... which is wrenching.

Each death in the film has more weight than the one before. And by the end of the film.... We no longer want the lives of men in our hands. Rolling on Two is just not what you want to do as an occupation.

At an even stronger level for me personally I would like to beat the shit out of Darabont and Michael Clarke Duncan for ruining for all time my ability to watch Fred Astaire with out crying like a wee baby.

I love musicals... especially the black and white era. Moreso... I love film. In this movie we get to see someone watch a film for the first time... and it is magic. For me, I sat there and watched that reaction scene and just could not shut down the waterworks. Even the so-called Mechanical Moriarty unit developed some sort of hydraulic leak thing. The two sitting next to us on the otherside also were similarly screwed with.

Amazing playing with heartstrings here. This isn’t a rushed tale. In a strange way I felt a similarity between this film and Richard Farnsworth’s character in THE STRAIGHT STORY... another amazing film we have had this year.

In that film, Farnsworth was haunted by memories... so many of them. There are stories told out loud in that film, then there were the ones he couldn’t bear to speak. THE GREEN MILE, for me, represents that far away look in Farnsworth’s eye. It’s that unspoken haunt that lays with one for a lifetime.

The story you never tell... you put out of mind... but that comes back like a sledgehammer when you least expect it. THE GREEN MILE is that reminisce of not so good times that eventually spill out.

Now saying that, the film is all at once entertaining and filling. Walking away from this film I was left with a feeling of satisfaction. Yeah, my cheeks were moist, but I had seen one helluva story.

Now... let’s take a look at the actors in this film.

Tom Hanks and Bonnie Hunt... This is a wonderful pairing. They look right together. First off there is one plotline that gets resolved that really does add some much needed relief (both for Hanks’ character and for us the audience) that produces a smile. These little sideline stories are essential in telling the complete story. Making it feel genuine.

I mean... you could boil the story down to a sentence, but then... you wouldn’t have told a good story. Edgecomb, Darabont and King are telling a great story because they do have those distractions. The relationship with Bonnie Hunt’s character is integral to exposing what sort of man Edgecomb is.

Bonnie is a supporting character, but she is not a throwaway. She supports Edgecomb, gives him his space.. but is there. You can see her frustrations as well as her delights. They have private jokes and unspoken glances that delight.

Hanks though is really wonderful here. He plays a very strong character.... and is tough when he needs to be, caring when he needs to be..... He is a guy that toughs it out. He is... a good man.

David Morse as Brutal is wonderful. He doesn’t have a great deal to work with, and with that name you’d think he’d play a stereotype... but... you’d be wrong. Morse is the second banana on Death Row. Number Two. He backs up Hanks, and very much follows Edgecomb’s lead. His MOUSE TOWN (VILLE) story is beautiful... a great scene. He is also a good man.

James Cromwell as the Warden is again.... wonderful. He’s not there much, but he’s integral to the film. Even though we don’t see him much his character has quite a bit of weight. There is an entire character arc in his brief amount of screen time that really gets to ya. He doesn’t play the warden as you often see Wardens played. He isn’t conniving. He isn’t holier than thou... All the characters here are doing their jobs. They have lives outside of the prison. And we delight in them.

Michael Jeter... oh man. Delacroix. You know... one could say that the propaganda of the film is that we don’t really see or hear why these men are on Death Row. That it’s a one sided bit of propaganda to be anti-Capital Punishment. BUT... These characters... the criminals... They did wrong. They know it. By the time they are on the Green Mile... it’s not a place for judgement... that’s happened. It’s about the inevitable. And Jeter and his Mouse... Mr Jingles... well it’s a great story. Jeter delivers a performance that I love right there with his crazed transvestite in THE FISHER KING. It’s hard to shake what happens with him and it’s a testament to Jeter’s acting that I got as involved as I did.

Man.... I could go on and on for about 5 more characters/actors (Gary Sinise, Barry Pepper, Sam Rockwell, William Sadler and Dabbs Greer) that did a wonderful job, but... there are two amazing stand outs that simply must be highlighted and talked about at length.

The first is Doug Hutchison, better known to X-filers as TOOMS. Tooms is still my favorite bad guy in the history of X-FILES. His episodes scared the bejeesus out of me, and when I heard he was cast as Percy Wetmore... Well I gulped. It was perfect casting... but it was the sort of inspired casting that you don’t often see much of these days. Hutchison plays the hell out of the character. What is great is that he isn’t merely a loathsome character. You feel pity for him. There’s a bit of Gollum to him. There’s this old trailer for a BILLY THE KID movie called DIRTY LITTLE BILLY with Michael J Pollard that had a narration that said something like, “Billy the Kid wasn’t brave... he was just a punk.” That reminds me of the way Hutchison plays Wetmore. He isn’t just a sadistic screw.... he’s more than that. I get the idea that he’s a stupid little fella that was picked on... and here... with these monsters behind cell bars... he can finally get a bit of payback. And it thrills him. His character is one of the greatest prison guards and all around bad guy characters I have seen. Hutchison is knocking on the ol attention door here by nearly outshining everyone.

Except... Michael Clarke Duncan. For anyone that watched Michael in ARMAGEDDON it must be impossible to think he has the acting strength to pull off this role. I met Duncan on that set and off camera he hit me as being a gentle giant of a man. He wasn’t a great actor yet. In this part.... with Frank’s direction... Michael Clarke Duncan becomes one of the iconic film roles. John Coffey is a miracle on screen. He is the character fully realized. He’s the keystone upon which this whole film is built. You must believe in this character... and Duncan does that. From the pure elation to subtle fears to agonizing suffering.... Michael proves to be an amazing character.

Now... As for Frank Darabont.... His film is wonderful. I really really liked SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION, but as a fan of the Prison film, I felt that the story was built almost entirely upon stereotypes found in the Warner Brothers PRISON Film Library. This movie isn’t a Prison film I’ve seen before.

Is it the BEST PICTURE I predicted? Well.... I’ll go ahead and stick by it, although it seems some critics have been less than enthusiastic (Variety, Hollywood Reporter..... although they didn’t like SHAWSHANK either). By the time February rolls around we should see if I’m completely off base. AMERICAN BEAUTY is going to have a lot of SAG support, and the actors make up quite a bit of the Academy. But man... what a film.

My favorite movie I’ve seen this year is TOY STORY II, but... well... I’m not going to say anymore till I get through this year. I still have a lot to see. Man... what a year!