1999, R, 180 minutes

Five years after Frank Darabont directed The Shawshank Redemption, he finally decided to put out another movie. After creating a film that was widely accepted as a masterpiece, he obviously had a lot to live up to with his next project. Like The Shawshank Redemption, The Green Mile was based on a novella by Stephen King, and while it's both moving and beautiful, it isn't quite as satisfying.

Set in 1930's Louisiana, Paul Edgecomb (Tom Hanks) is a prison-guard at a state penitentiary. His job is to guard and supervise death-row inmates at E-block, which they refer to as "the green mile" because the floor is the color of faded limes. One day an enormous black man named John Coffey (Michael Clark Duncan) is transferred into E-block for the vicious murder of two young girls. At first sight we can tell this man is shy and scared, hardly capable of murder, and he even asks if they turn the lights out at night. Shortly after that, Edgecomb and a few of the other guards (David Morse and Barry Pepper) come to realize that Coffey is no murderer and that he contains a special gift of healing. Over time, they form a close bond with him while dealing with other problems at the prison and they also befriend a little mouse named Mr. Jingles.

Throughout this film I found myself being taken through a journey of emotions and I was especially surprised by the amount of humor. Darabont and King once again show off their ability to craft a wide variety of interesting characters, which all tie together in an entertaining and unpredictable story. Considering the majority of The Green Mile is set in a single prison block, the cinematography was excellent and best of all it didn't constantly repeat setting shots. While this film is quite moving and very likely to draw tears from the audience, I wasn't as pleased by the ending as I wanted to be. It's a good ending that seems very appropriate, but it could have been a little more satisfying.

Some reviewers have criticized The Green Mile for it's three-hour runtime, calling it excessive. I thought it moved along pretty well despite a few scenes that could have been shortened. One of the executions, for example, was a bit longer than necessary. If you're one of those people who worries about long movies dragging everything out, I can assure you The Green Mile has plenty of ground to cover.

Tom Hanks gives a sharp performance as always and the rest of the cast was also very good. The standout performance was from Michael Clark Duncan (Armageddon), who did a superb job of handling a range of emotions without making them feel over-the-top and sappy.

If you've got three hours on your hands, The Green Mile is definitely worth your time. Fans of heavy-hitting emotional films will certainly enjoy it, however, I wouldn't recommend it to people who dislike movies with a spiritual or supernatural influence. All in all, a great movie-going experience.