In 1935, Correction Officer Paul Edgecomb (Tom Hanks) is in charge of the Death Row section of Cold Mountain Penitentiary, called The Green Mile because the corridor is painted green. With him are Officer Brutus Howell (David Morse), Dean Stanton (Barry Pepper), Harry Terwilliger (Jeffrey DeMunn), and the particularly sadistic Percy Wetmore (Doug Hutchison), who is generally hated but has connections to the Governor of the State.
There are three prisoners—Edward Delacroix (Michael Jeter), who is often tormented by Percy, an erratic and often violent William Wharton (Sam Rockwell), and John Coffey (Michael Clarke Duncan), who is huge and frightening but basically gentle and a bit simple-minded. He has been found guilty of raping and murdering two young white girls he was found cradling in his arms.
Paul begins to doubt Coffey could have committed such a crime and, what’s more, he has miraculous healing abilities. He cures Paul’s bladder infection by absorbing and expelling it. When Percy crushes Edward’s pet mouse, Mr. Jingles, Coffey takes the little body and brings it back to life. Fed up with Percy’s cruelty, the officers let him officiate at an execution provided he takes a job elsewhere afterwards, but Percy deliberately omits the wet sponge that conducts electricity from the electric chair directly to the brain, causing a horribly painful death. Coffey senses the pain and is overwhelmed and inadvertently transfers some of his power into Mr. Jingles.
Paul convinces some of the guards to take Coffey to heal Warden Hal Moore’s (James Cromwell) terminally ill wife Melinda (Patricia Clarkson). Before leaving, they put Percy in a straitjacket and confine him to a padded cell. They sneak Coffey out of the prison and bring him to the Warden’s home. He absorbs the woman’s illness and pain but is left with excruciating pain himself. The guards return Coffey to his cell and release Percy, but Coffey grabs Percy and passes the illness to him. Percy grabs a gun and shoots Wharton dead. Paul demands some answers and Wharton’s memories are transferred to Paul, showing that it was Wharton who killed the girls. Percy is now catatonic and will be committed to the local insane asylum.
But Paul cannot prove Percy’s guilt or Coffey’s innocence, nor can he stop the execution. He offers Coffey a chance to escape, but Coffey is exhausted from all the pain and stress, and he wants to die. He requests a movie because he never saw one and he and Paul watch Top Hat. When he is taken to the electric chair, he tells the others of his dream, in which he and the girls are happy. The crowd believes he is guilty, and he feels their hatred, but he is told to concentrate on the guards, who love him. He will not wear a hood because he is afraid of the dark.
In the denouement, Paul, now 108 years old, watches Top Hat and tells Coffey’s story to his friend Elaine (Eve Brent). She calls Paul’s longevity a miracle, but he believes watching all his loved ones pass on was his punishment for letting Coffey die. The mouse, Mr. Jingles, is still alive and Paul wonders how long he will live. The Green Mile, he says, seems so long.
The film was written and directed by Frank Darabout, based on Stephen King’s 1996 novel. It was positively reviewed by critics, who praised Darabout’s direction and the performances, particularly that of Tom Hanks and Michael Clarke Duncan. Duncan said “John Coffey stands for everything that is right in the world.” It was a commercial success and was nominated for four Oscars.
The film was shot in several locations, including the Old Tennessee State Prison. Stephen King had envisioned Tom Hanks in his roll and was happy he was cast. Duncan said his casting was because of Bruce Willis, who worked with Duncan on Armageddon and introduced him to the director. It’s hard for me to imagine anyone but Duncan in the role. Some critics criticized the movie’s three-hour length, but Roger Ebert said it helped us appreciate the passing of time in prison.
Michael Clarke Duncan can only play certain roles because of his huge presence. He was memorable as The Kingpin in the Daredevil and Spiderman movies. In real life he was a bodyguard for the likes of Will Smith, LL Cool Jay, and the Notorious B.I.G. When the latter was killed, Duncan was off work, and he quit his job immediately. His mother would not let him play football as a boy because he might get hurt, but he had a purple belt in Jiu-Jitsu. He died of complications from a heart-attack on 13 July 2012. Tom Hanks attended his funeral.