Paul Edgecomb walked the mile with a variety of cons. He had never encountered someone like John Coffey, a massive black man convicted of brutally killing a pair of young sisters. Coffey had the size and strength to kill anyone, but not the demeanor. Beyond his simple, naive nature and a deathly fear of the dark, Coffey seemed to possess a prodigious, supernatural gift. Paul began to question whether Coffey was truly guilty of murdering the two girls.
I can't count how many times I've caught The Green Mile on tv in the middle or at the end of the movie. Up until now I've never had the chance to see the entire thing. I finally got the chance recently when I was up late one night (thank you insomnia!). I've always heard how great it is, and after watching it, it's even better than what I've heard. There's only a handful of movies I'd consider legitimately perfect - The Godfather and Gladiator are two of them - and I'd add The Green Mile to that short list. The entire cast did a phenomenal job, especially Tom Hanks as Paul Edgecomb, but the one performance that really drew me in was Michael Clarke Duncan as John Coffey ("...like the drink, but spelled different..."). His performance as the quiet - though kind of stereotypical - "gentle giant" of sorts is hands down one of the best onscreen performances I've ever seen on film. I've mentioned before how I rarely get truly and fully emotional watching movies, but man, watching Michael as John Coffey during his final long monologue when he's talking to Tom Hank's character named Paul Edgecomb really got to me. Easily one of the best, most emotional scenes I've ever witnessed. When John tells Paul "...I'm tired boss...Mostly I'm tired of people being ugly to each other. I'm tired of all the pain I feel and hear in the world everyday. There's too much of it. It's like pieces of glass in my head all the time...", it's one of those rare instances where I actually felt that emotion hit me like a stab in the heart. I only wish I could have that kind of experience more often.
I should also mention that I was kind of surprised to learn that The Green Mile was first a story written by Stephen King. I knew it was a book, but never knew it was from King. I'm mostly only familiar with King's horror stories (Carrie, IT, The Shining, etc.). Overall I'm not the biggest fan of Stephen King, but watching The Green Mile actually made me want to seek out Stephen King's stories and see what else he's done that's not necessarily in the horror genre. The only other stories I'm currently aware of is The Shawshank Redemption and Stand by Me.
All of that to say, if you haven't had the pleasure to experience the epitome of storytelling magic that is The Green Mile, then do yourself a favor and seek it out. Without a doubt I'd consider it one of the greatest movies ever made.
