Overview
A gripping tale of morality and redemption unfolds on death row, where the extraordinary meets the ordinary.
Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Slow
- Intensity
- Extreme
- Complexity
- Layered
- Violence
- Graphic
- melancholic
- earnest
- foreboding
- serious movie night
- book adaptation marathon
What critics said
Critics broadly found the film absorbing and emotionally powerful, praising its performances and storytelling while noting that its three-hour length and melodramatic excess could become burdensome.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
John Coffey’s unexplained gift forces Paul Edgecomb and the prison staff to reconsider guilt, punishment, and compassion.
The death-row guards try to perform executions humanely while remaining agents of the prison system.
Coffey’s miracles occur amid Depression-era prison routines, bureaucratic procedures, and intimate human reactions.
The elderly Paul recounts his experiences on death row from a present-day care facility.
Films like The Green Mile, and why
The Shawshank Redemption
shared prison setting, moral conflict, humane guards, and emotionally powerful drama
The Sixth Sense
shared supernatural compassion, capital punishment themes, and redemptive melodrama
A Time to Kill
shared historical setting, racial injustice, moral outrage, and cathartic drama
Big Fish
shared magical realism, death, innocence, and tearjerking emotional release
Movie Details
- Director
- Frank Darabont
- Release Date
- 1999-12-10
- Runtime
- 189 min
- Rating
- 8.5 / 10 (19873)
Cast
- Tom Hanks
- David Morse
- Bonnie Hunt
- Michael Clarke Duncan
- James Cromwell
- Michael Jeter
- Graham Greene
- Doug Hutchison
- Sam Rockwell
- Barry Pepper
Where to watch in United States
- Rent
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home, Spectrum On Demand
- Buy
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home
Streaming options come from TMDB and change over time.
Common questions
- What is The Green Mile about?
- A compassionate death-row guard confronts the limits of justice when a condemned prisoner reveals a seemingly miraculous gift.
- What is The Green Mile like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of The Green Mile as slow, its intensity as extreme and its storytelling as layered.
- Is The Green Mile violent?
- Yes. Ember rates the violence in The Green Mile as graphic.
- What did critics think of The Green Mile?
- Critics broadly found the film absorbing and emotionally powerful, praising its performances and storytelling while noting that its three-hour length and melodramatic excess could become burdensome.
- Which films are like The Green Mile?
- Films with a similar feel include The Shawshank Redemption, The Sixth Sense, A Time to Kill, and Big Fish.
- How long is The Green Mile?
- The Green Mile runs 189 minutes.
- Where can I watch The Green Mile?
- In United States, The Green Mile is available to rent or buy from Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home, Spectrum On Demand.
