The Green Mile

"Paul Edgecomb didn't believe in miracles. Until the day he met one."

1999 3h 9m EN

🤯

8.5

MASTERPIECE

★8.5TMDB · 19,903

FantasyDramaCrime

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

A supernatural tale set on death row in a Southern prison, where gentle giant John Coffey possesses the mysterious power to heal people's ailments. When the cell block's head guard, Paul Edgecomb, recognizes Coffey's miraculous gift, he tries desperately to help stave off the condemned man's execution.

“Paul Edgecomb didn't believe in miracles. Until the day he met one.”

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Cast

Tom Hanks
Paul Edgecomb
David Morse
Brutus 'Brutal' Howell
Bonnie Hunt
Jan Edgecomb
Michael Clarke Duncan
John Coffey
James Cromwell
Warden Hal Moores
Michael Jeter
Eduard Delacroix
Graham Greene
Arlen Bitterbuck
Doug Hutchison
Percy Wetmore

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Frank Darabont
Writers: Frank Darabont
Languages: French, English
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

RUNTIME

Did you know

At 189 minutes, this is a three-hour-plus commitment — longer than 95% of films ever made.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Mid-budget at $60M — the now-extinct middle tier of Hollywood.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Made its money back 4.8× over at the box office.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

ERA

Did you know

27 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

Dialogue crosses 2 languages: French, English.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Frank Darabont, shot by David Tattersall. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Thomas Newman. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Richard Francis-Bruce shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Frank Darabont directs. David Tattersall behind the camera. Thomas Newman scores. Richard Francis-Bruce cuts. A long sit — settle in. Made its budget back several times over at the box office. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in French, English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1At 189 minutes, this is a three-hour-plus commitment — longer than 95% of films ever made.
2Mid-budget at $60M — the now-extinct middle tier of Hollywood.
3Made its money back 4.8× over at the box office.
427 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
5Dialogue crosses 2 languages: French, English.
6Directed by Frank Darabont, shot by David Tattersall. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
7Original score by Thomas Newman. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
8Editor Richard Francis-Bruce shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
9Tom Hanks and David Morse and Bonnie Hunt carry the top of the cast.
10Marketing tagline: "Paul Edgecomb didn't believe in miracles. Until the day he met one.".
11IMDB entry: tt0120689 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
1219,903 TMDB user ratings logged — serious cultural footprint.
13Classified under 19 themes, including "mentally disabled", "death penalty", "based on novel or book", "southern usa".
14Released under 13 different titles around the world.

The technical file

Cinematography: David Tattersall
Original score: Thomas Newman
Editing: Richard Francis-Bruce
Production design: Terence Marsh
Costume design: Karyn Wagner
Makeup / hair: Janis Clark
VFX supervisor: Craig Barron
Sound: Elliot Tyson
Stunt coordinator: Jeff Imada
Runtime: 189 min · 3h 9m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $60,000,000
Box office: $286,801,374
Return: 478% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): R
IMDB: The Green Mile (1999)

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Frank Darabont

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What people are saying

Wuchak2024-04-08
★ 9/10
A Masterpiece of Cinematic Art -- Captivating and Reverent The head Death Row guard at a Tennessee prison during the Depression (Tom Hanks) observes a new inmate, a black man named John Coffey (Michael Clarke Duncan), who is condemned to death for the rape and murder of two little girls. He and his fellow guards become intrigued by the gentle giant and conclude that there's no way he could be guilty of the crime. Who, then, is guilty? And will the guilty party get away with it. "The Green Mile" expertly mixes film genres: It's part prison flick, part supernatural mystery and part drama. It was adapted from Stephen King's novel by director/writer Frank Darabont and released in 1999. If you're not an admirer of Stephen King books/films (I'm not), DON'T let that deter you from viewing this beautiful and spiritually-profound film; it's by no means a typical horror story, although it does have a couple of horrific scenes. Running 3-hours, it's over my limited attention span, and yet it's somehow utterly engrossing, even on repeat viewings. It's character/dialogue driven, unique and unpredictable. Don't mistake this for a run-of-the-mill prison flick. The fact that it largely takes place in a prison in the 1930s is a secondary issue. This is a powerful supernatural mystery/drama. SPOILER ALERT (Don't read this next paragraph unless you want to consider possibilities about the character John Coffey) John Coffey's last name is, evidently, derived from an ancient Sumerian word, kophi, which means "winged creature." Hence, John could be viewed as a angel or messenger from the Almighty. Actually, John is a type of Jesus Christ verified in six ways: (1) His initials are JC. (2) He's good-hearted and can easily recognize true evil. (3) He miraculously heals people. (4) He pronounces and executes divine judgment. (5) He is sacrificed even though completely innocent. And (6) He offers eternal life (in a sense), as evidenced by the extended life-span of the Hanks character and the mouse "Mr. Jingles." End SPOILER ALERT Don't miss out on this cinematic masterpiece.
CinemaSerf2024-04-29
★ 7/10
"Edgecomb" (Tom Hanks) is in charge of the prison officers who tend to the inmates on death row. He's a decent man who, with the help of his partner "Howell" (David Morse) tries to carry out his task as humanely as possible. Their team also numbers the truly odious "Percy" (Doug Hutchinson). He's an incompetent coward, but he also happens to be the nephew of the state governor, so tends to get away with his obnoxiousness towards the prisoners. That nasty behaviour becomes more pronounced when the giant "Coffey" (Michael Clarke Duncan) arrives. Also newly arrived is a small mouse which befriends, much to the chagrin of "Percy", a fellow inmate (Harry Dean Stanton) and oddly enough it seems to help keep the peace as people come and go. Things take quite an intriguing turn when some physical contact between their gentle giant and "Edgecomb" seems to cure his liver complaint. As the officer realises that this man may well possess healing hands, he and his team begins to bond with him. Meantime, the ghastly little "Percy" screws up his first execution causing an effect straight out of a Wes Craven film and Sam Rockwell's psychopathic "Wild Bill" arrives to liven things up. It's actually Rockwell who steal this for me. His performance is viscerally effective and he really does commit to the role. It's over 3 hours long but the acting is almost perfect as these characters develop and the story unfolds reconciling the brutality of racism, crime and punishment with the attempts at humanity and decency applied by virtually everyone whose lives are touched by these scenarios - even amongst the staff who struggle at times to keep their own priorities in kilter. One of Stephen King's much better stories with depth to the personas, a good baddie to loathe and a message of redemption delivered subtly but powerfully.
sirdorius2025-02-04
★ 6/10
Great acting by everyone involved, but the story is just not my cup of tea. If you like fake miracles (no shortage of people that do) and fantasy storylines, like prison guards that are humane and empathic (on death row nonetheless), then you might enjoy this more. I, however, will stick to more realistic fantasy, like mages fighting orcs and that sort of thing, and leave this in the trash pile of conservative media.