,
adapted from Stephen King's novel, "Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank
Redemption".
There's one thing that's going to make writing this review difficult and that
is attempting to explain the plot without giving anything away so I'll have
to be brief.
In short, the film centres around the relationship between Death Row prison
warden Paul Edgecomb (Tom Hanks) - at the Cold Mountain Penitentiary
in the Deep South - and its latest inmate, John Coffey
(Armageddon's
Michael Clarke Duncan).
The latter worked on the land for Klaus Detterick (William Sadler, who also
starred in the recent
Disturbing Behaviour)
as well as The Shawshank Redemption,
but was sure to get the sack after being found by the river propped up against
a log, cradling the bloodied heads of Detterick's two young daughters and
wittering, "I tried to take it back, but it was too late".
Did he kill them and so deserves to be fried in the chair or is it just a
case of "Not me, guv. It's a fit-up!" ? By the time half this film has
passed, all will become much more clear.
The year is 1935 but it is told in flashback from the present day as an
elder Paul (Dabbs Greer) sits in a nursing home recounting his tale
to a female friend, Elaine (Eve Brent) about the time he worked on the
"Green Mile" and had a bladder infection.
Green Mile? Well, Death Row itself
is referred to in the "mile" part as the distance it feels like walking
between the cell and "old Sparky", the electric chair. It's green because of
the lime-green colour of the floor. So now you know.
Paul's having toilet trouble courtesy of his bladder problems and it's an
element of Stephen King's supernatural mind that aids some relief on hand
courtesy of John Coffey. I can't say any more as that would ruin the whole
point of watching the film.
About the cast, this is certainly an impressive line-up and most of the
principal and secondary characters are on-screen long enough to be
memorable for one reason or another.
For the screws, Paul's colleagues are Brutus "Brutal" Howell (David Morse,
Jodie Foster's father in Contact), Edgecomb's chief assistant and you
can guess how he got the name from his demeanour towards the inmates, old hand
Harry Terwilliger (Jeffrey DeMunn), the promising Dean Stanton (Barry
Pepper) and the maverick Percy Wetmore (Doug Hutchison).
In addition to Michael Clarke Duncan, the three other convicted killers
are nervy Eduard Delacroix (Michael Jeter) who befriends a mouse
before he is sent back to meet his maker, the repentant Native American
inmate Arlen Bitterbuck (Graham Greene, most remembered for the Red
Indian who befriended Kevin Costner in Dances With Wolves)
and mad-as-a-hatter William "Wild Bill" Wharton (Sam Rockwell) who
only befriends the voices in his head.
Of the rest of the cast, Coffey has an impressive effect on the lives of
Prison Warden Hal Moores (James Cromwell, from
Star Trek: First Contact
and Deep Impact)
and his terminally-ill wife, Melinda (Patricia Clarkson).
The only ones who have too little to do are
Jerry Maguire's
Bonnie Hunt as Paul's wife Jan and what the press release describes
as "the prison's wiry old trusty" (?), Harry Dean Stanton as Toot-Toot,
who appears to "test" out the electric chair for its first run.
So, is the film actually worth going to see? Well, it is and it isn't,
hence the middle-of-the-road score.
As most of the characters play their part, they do it effectively and convincingly
and it lays the groundwork for a worthwhile three hours sat on your backside,
but what lets it down immeasurably is the script. The film begins as a standard,
but realistic prison drama and you expect high standards given the cast and
Darabont's debut film, but the supernatural storyline on which Edgecomb's and
Coffey's relationship lies is totally unbelievable and I failed to get carried
along with that element, which led to the complete lack of chemistry between
these two.
That doesn't bode well because as you start to get edgy in your seat, you
realise the length of the film and that you shouldn't have a drink beforehand.
I did... and seeing Tom Hanks straining to syphon the python didn't do many
favours for my bladder either.
As the film plods towards the eventual conclusion of Coffey walking down
the "green mile" heading for his destiny, you first get to see the rest of
the clan go the same way, bar one who makes a different kind of fatal exit,
but there is a final twist of sorts revealed at the end as it returns to the
present day and the elder Edgecomb concludes his tale.
Overall, the film left me feeling unsatisfied. It's a missed opportunity, but
I don't know what I could suggest to improve matters other than to bin King's
novel from day one and choose a different story altogether for the same
cast to act out.
Now can someone please explain how this managed to get nominated for four
Oscars? They are Best Film, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Sound and
the only one deserved nomination, Best Supporting Actor for Michael
Clarke Duncan. If you watch the trailer being shown on TV it will tell
you nothing about the film, other than that there's something going on between
him and Hanks and that it causes the prison's lights to explode (!)
For a complete list of all the Oscar nominees, please visit my
Oscars 2000 Nominees Page.
This page will be updated with the winners after the event.
DVDs reviewed by the editor are watched on a Panasonic TXW32R4 32" widescreen TV
connected to either a Creative Dxr2 DVD-ROM player or Microsoft Xbox and
played through a Sony STR-DB930 amplifier.
PC games reviewed by the editor are on:
Since Nov 2005: Intel Pentium D 830 3.0Ghz, 1Gb RAM, 128Mb nVidia GeForce 6700XL, Windows XP
Since Aug 2003: Intel Pentium 4 2.66Ghz, 512Mb RAM, 128Mb GeForce4 MX440 graphics, Windows XP
Since May 2003: Intel Pentium 4 2.6Ghz, 512Mb RAM, 128Mb ATI Radeon 9600TX graphics, Windows XP
Since Jun 2002: Intel Pentium III 600Mhz, 384Mb RAM, Windows 98 SE, 64Mb ATI Radeon 8500LE
Since May 2000: Intel Pentium III 600Mhz, 384Mb RAM, Windows 98 SE, Voodoo 3 3000 AGP
