The Green Mile (1999) - Duncan and great ensemble raise Darabont's second prison epic

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+ Best Ensemble of the Year: Tom Hanks, Michael Clarke Duncan, Sam Rockwell, David Morse, Michael Jeter, Bonnie Hunt, James Cromwell, Patricia Clarkson, Harry Dean Stanton, Doug Hutchison + Best Epic Movie of the Year + Best Prison Movie of the Year + Best Religious Movie of the Year + Best Shooting Star Actor of the Year: Michael Clarke Duncan

 

Tom Hanks painted neatly up in retro 1930s/1940s poster style defines this fine poster for Frank Darabont's The Green Mile

On a Louisiana death row in the middle of the 1930s the deeply unusual, black giant double-murder convict John Coffey arrives, and his special abilities are to turn life as they know it upside down for the staff and other prisoners there.

The Green Mile is written and directed by French-born American master filmmaker Frank Darabont (The Shawshank Redemption (1994)), whose 2nd feature it is. It is an adaptation of Stephen King's (The Talisman (1984)) same-titled 1996 novel.

The story is King in his metaphysical corner, which I sometimes have a hard time with; The Stand (1994, miniseries) being the worst proponent for the adaptations of these writings. The Green Mile arrives as something like a new gospel, a disguised Christ story, which is specifically American in the relation between the predominantly white society and its black minority, and in its relation to the black male specifically.

It is a forceful and enormously handsomely produced film with strong photography (by David Tattersall (The Matador (2005))) and performances; particularly Michael Clarke Duncan (Kung Fu Panda (2008)) is incredible and magical as Coffey. Tom Hanks (The Post (2017)) is good but stands in Duncan's colossal shade here, as well as formidable supporting performances from Sam Rockwell (Woman Walks Ahead (2017)) especially, but also from David Morse (16 Blocks (2006)), Michael Jeter (Dream On (2006, TV-series)), Bonnie Hunt (Stolen Summer (2002)), James Cromwell (The Queen (2006)), Patricia Clarkson (Elegy (2008)), Harry Dean Stanton (Sand (2000)) and Doug Hutchison (Moola (2007)).

The Green Mile is a long film with an incredible twist to it, which I also have some difficulty stomaching. Also here it is a bit much for my taste. It seems an attempt to match and exceed Darabont's preceding, masterful King adaptation, also prison-set Shawshank Redemption, and for all the wonderful elements in The Green Mile, this probably foolhardy ambition fails.

 

Related posts:

 

Frank Darabont: The Majestic (2001) - Soaring sentiments and production values in Darabont's under-appreciated Movie

1999 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess  

 

Watch  a trailer for the film here

 

Cost: 60 mil. $

Box office: 286.8 mil. $

= Big hit (returned 4.78 times its cost)

[The Green Mile premiered 6 December (California) and runs 189 minutes. Darabont reportedly wrote the script in less than 8 weeks. Hanks was paid 20 mil. $ for his performance, one third of its over-all coast. Shooting took place from July - December 1998 in Tennessee, North Carolina and California, including Los Angeles. The film opened #2, behind Toy Story 2, to a 18 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it spent another 8 weekends in the top 5 (#2-#5-#4-#2-#5-#5-#5-#5) and grossed 136.8 mil. $ (47.7 % of the total gross). It was nominated for 4 Oscars, winning none: It lost Best Picture to American Beauty, Supporting Actor (Duncan) to Michael Caine in The Cider House Rules, Editing to The Matrix and Adapted Screenplay to John Irving for The Cider House Rules. It was also nominated for a Golden Globe, among many other honors. Roger Ebert gave it a 3.5/4 star review, translating to a notch over this one. IMDb's users have rated the film in at #27 on the site's Top 250, sitting between Saving Private Ryan (1998) and Spirited Away (2001). It additionally made in excess of 17.4 mil. $ in domestic home video rentals alone. Darabont returned with The Majestic (2001). Hanks returned in Cast Away (2000); Duncan in The Whole Nine Yards (2000). The Green Mile is certified fresh at 78 % with a 6.80/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of The Green Mile?

The Majestic (2001) - Soaring sentiments and production values in Darabont's under-appreciated Movie

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A glorious, cinematic kiss stretched across the night sky over an amazing-looking cinema on the poster for Frank Darabont's The Majestic

An upcoming Hollywood screenwriter, who is targeted by the House Un-American Activities Committee of the 1950s, has an accident in which he hits his head. He wakes up in an ideal small town community, Lawson, California, where he is wrongfully recognized as a lost World War II soldier.

The Majestic is written by Michael Sloane (Hollywood Boulevard II (1990)) and directed by French-American master filmmaker Frank Darabont (The Shawshank Redemption (1994)), whose 3rd feature it is.
Jim Carrey (Mr. Popper's Penguins (2011)) and Laurie Holden (Dead Man's Gun (1997, TV-series)) are fine in Darabont's exceptionally handsome production, a film that feels like it could just as well have been made in 1960 with James Stewart in the lead. Bob Balaban (No Reservations (2007)) makes a good villain; David Ogden Stiers (Lilo & Stitch (2002)) makes a good doctor, - but it is Martin Landau (Delta Fever (1987)) as Carrey's 'father', who stands out and activates our tear canals more than once in an awards-worthy turn.
The fine story here, which keeps one guessing, is told in a pace that is too leisurely at times. But it is a joy to watch a film done with style, panache and craftsmanship, obviously made without the (in major studio fare especially) normalized consideration that major sequences be accomplished during post production. It can be seen as well as felt.
Landau's speech in favor of the title-named theater over smaller screens is eminent. The Majestic is a Movie (capital letter very much intended) that develops in such a way that one almost can't imagine that it will end 'well'. - And yet it does, SPOILER with a court room scene that just about rewrites J. Edgar Hoover's communist witch-hunt, or at least strikes it back by Hollywood, in the guise of Carrey, counterfactually. Regrettably the ending still gets botched a bit, as the filmmakers inhale even more wind into The Majestic's already ballooned construction by having Carrey return to an exaggerated, somewhat absurd salutation in Lawson.

Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: 72 mil. $
Box office: 37.3 mil. $
= Huge flop (returned 0.51 times its cost)
[The Majestic premiered 11 December (USA) and runs 152 minutes. Shooting took place in California, including Los Angeles, from March - June 2001. The film opened #8 to a 4.9 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it did not peak higher in subsequent weekends and grossed 27.8 mil. $ (74.5 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were, with some uncertainty, Japan with 5.3 mil. $ (14.2 %) and Spain with 444k $ (1.9 %). Roger Ebert gave the film a 3.5/4 star review, translating to a notch higher than this one. Darabont returned with Raines (2007, TV-series), The Shield (2007, TV-series) and theatrically with The Mist (2007). Carrey returned in Bruce Almighty (2003). The Majestic is rotten at 42 % with a 4.90/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of The Majestic?