Frank Darabont jokes that he has the most specific expertise in film history – Stephen King movies set in prisons. If he doesn’t want the gig he shouldn’t do such a damn good job at them.
Paul Edgecomb (Dabs Greer) is an old man in a nursing home when he is reminded of an event in his past. He decides to finally tell his story to Eve (Elaine Connelly). In 1935 Paul (Tom Hanks) worked on death row at Cold Mountain Penitentiary. Death row blocks are usually called the last mile. Cold Mountains is called the green mile since the linoleum is the color of faded limes. Paul’s crew includes Brutus “Brutal” Howell (David Morse), Dean Stanton (Barry Pepper), Harry Terwilliger (Jeffrey DeMunn), and the villainous Percy Wetmore (Doug Hutchison).
They’ve got Arlen Bitterbuck (Graham Greene) and Edward Delacroix (Michael Jeter) waiting on the mile to have justice meted out to them. A mountain of a man arrives on death row in the form of John Coffey (Michael Clarke Duncan, like the drink boss, but spelled different). This “hardened” killer has the mind of a child and is afraid of the dark.
A killer more to type arrives in the form of “Wild Bill” Wharton (Sam Rockwell). Another more diminutive form arrives on the mile called Mr. Jingles – a mouse that is rather magical and takes a shine to Delacroix. Paul begins to suspect that maybe Coffey isn’t guilty of the crime he has supposed to have committed. Paul also discovers that Coffey has other magical secrets.
This brief plot description doesn’t do the movie justice. Stephen King wrote the novel in the style of Charles Dickens and released the novel in installments. Frank Darabont had already directed a Stephen King prison novel (well novella) called Shawshank Redemption. It didn’t exactly heat up the box office, but in time it has become known as a classic. Luckily Darabont had gotten a phone call from King and had gotten first dibs on the Green Mile, but King wouldn’t give Darabont the complete run of novels (he was writing them in installments and had not really finished them when Darabont asked).
Darabont once again proved that he was the man to direct all Stephen King prison epics as the Green Mile is almost as good as the Shawshank Redemption. The original release was a movie only affair and now Warner Brothers has pulled out all the stops and created an excellent two disc set. However, in what might be a controversial move they’ve split the film in half over the two discs (1 hour 54 minutes on disc 1 and 1 hour 13 minutes on disc 2). Whatever the case the movie is a powerful, though sentimental, one and reminds me of the classic films of days gone by. The movie sparks [insert rimshot here] with electric performances and is expertly cast.
Tom Hanks and Dabs Greer both deserve praise for the role of Paul Edgecomb. Michael Clarke Duncan well deserved his nomination for Supporting Actor in the role of John Coffey. Doug Hutchinson also makes Percy the villain that you’ll love to hate. Not a bad performance in the bunch. The Green Mile was nominated for Best Picture, Supporting Actor for Michael Clarke Duncan, and Screenplay. Sadly, it won nothing (don’t wet the sponge for the Academy, roll on two).
The Green Mile is presented in anamorphic widescreen (1.85:1) and enhanced for 16x9 televisions. Both discs contain a commentary from director Frank Darabont and some special guests. During the commentary he calls makeup specialist Greg Nicotero, cinematographer Richard Francis-Bruce, and DVD producer Constantine Nasr to confirm of deny some things that he can’t remember. He also gives us a glimpse into the behind the scenes of how exactly commentaries (or at least this commentary) are assembled during the film’s closing credits.
Disc one also contains 2 deleted scenes totaling around 3 minutes (Bitterbuck’s family says goodbye and Coffey’s prayer) with an optional commentary by Darabont. Sadly, Green Mile was edited on computer and other scenes were not saved and were eventually purged from the hard drives, so this is all they could find (and they nearly didn’t find those two). There’s also an 8 minute screen test of Michael Clarke Duncan. We also finally get to see the fabled makeup tests of Tom Hanks in old age makeup (5 minutes). Next is the 6 minute featurette “Teaser Trailer: A Case Study.”
It covers the assemblage of an unused teaser trailer that was shot at the same time as the feature. It interviews Darabont, producer David Valdes, and storyboard artist Bill Sienkiewicz. Finally the theatrical trailer rounds out disc one. Disc two contains the majority of the special features. The first featurette is the 25 minute “Walking the Mile: The Making of the Green Mile.” Most of these interviews appear to be taken from on-set interviews.
They include Stephen King, director Darabont, Michael Jeter, Tom Hanks, James Cromwell, producer Valdes, Gary Sinise, Bonnie Hunt, David Morse, Dough Hutchinson, Michael Clarke Duncan, Sam Rockwell, Jeffrey DeMunn, Barry Pepper, stunt mouse coordinator Boone Narr, visual effects supervisor Charles Gibson, and William Sadler. Next is the new 6 part “Miracles and Mystery: Creating the Green Mile” and features new interviews with the principle players. You can watch the six parts separately (Stephen King: Storyteller, The Art of Adaptation, Acting on the Mile, Designing the Mile, The Magic of the Mile, and The Tail of Mr. Jingles) or as one long 1 hour and 45 minute documentary.
It interviews author/critic Kim Newman, director Darabont, author Stephen Jones, artist Berni Wrightson, author Peter Straub, Tom Hanks, author David J. Schow, director Lawrence Kasdan, screenwriter William Goldman, Jeffrey DeMunn, David Morse, Dabs Greer, Michael Clarke Duncan, acting coach Larry Moss, Sam Rockwell, Bonnie Hunt, Barry Pepper, Patricia Clarkson, James Cromwell, production designer Terence Marsh, director of photography David Tattersall, costume designer Karen Wagner, special makeup effects Greg Nicotero, special effects coordinator Darrell Pritchett, 2nd unit director/visual effects supervisor Charles Gibson, team Jingles stunt coordinator Boone Narr, mouse trainer Michelle Suffredini, and actor Brent Briscoe.
The Green Mile has finally been given the special treatment and fans of the movie will definitely want to upgrade to this release. Darabont provides a informative and enlightening commentary that is well worth the cost of admission alone. The new, long form documentary on disc two is also excellent. The new artwork is also beautiful (and reminds one of the Shawshank Redemption SE artwork). Now all Darabont fans need is a two disc SE of the Majestic.
The Green Mile Two-Disc Special Edition is now available at Amazon and AmazonUK . Visit the DVD database for more information.
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