Set on Death Row in a Southern prison in 1935, "The Green Mile" is the big-screen adaptation of Stephen King's 1996 bestselling serialized novel. It is the remarkable story of a prison guard who develops a poignant, unusual relationship with one inmate who possesses a magical gift that is both mysterious and miraculous.
Two-time Academy Award-winner TOM HANKS stars as Paul Edgecomb, the Death Row head guard who relates in flashback a mystical account about his tour of duty at Cold Mountain Penitentiary and his watch over a quartet of convicted killers awaiting execution in the electric chair.
MICHAEL CLARKE DUNCAN, in his first starring role, plays John Coffey, a massive, seven-foot inmate convicted of brutally murdering two young girls. His gentle, naive nature and unusual powers starkly contrast with his appearance, and raise questions in Edgecomb's mind about Coffey's guilt.
The cast also includes veteran actor JEFFREY DeMUNN as Death Row guard Harry Terwilliger; PATRICIA CLARKSON as Melinda, the warden's terminally ill wife; and HARRY DEAN STANTON as Toot Toot, the prison's wiry old trusty. Oscar nominee GARY SINISE joins the production for a brief appearance as Burt Hammersmith, Coffey's public defender. Character actor WILLIAM SADLER ("The Shawshank Redemption") reunites with Darabont for the role of Klaus Detterick. Film veteran DABBS GREER portrays the elder Paul Edgecomb, while the character of Elaine is depicted by fellow veteran EVE BRENT.
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"The Green Mile" is told in a flashback narrated by Paul Edgecomb to his friend Elaine Connelly. Edgecomb is now living in an old-age home some six decades after working as the head guard on Death Row at Cold Mountain Penitentiary.
Edgecomb's tour of duty at Cold Mountain in the Depression-era South included watch over a quartet of killers awaiting their final walk down "the Green Mile," the stretch of green linoleum flooring that took convicts from their jail cells to the electric chair.
Over the years, Edgecomb walked the mile with a variety of cons. He had never before encountered someone like John Coffey, a massive black man convicted of brutally killing a pair of nine-year-old sisters. Coffey certainly had the size and strength to kill anyone, but his demeanor starkly contrasted with his appearance. Beyond his simple, naive nature and a deathly fear of the dark, Coffey seemed to possess a prodigious, supernatural gift. Edgecomb began to question whether Coffey was truly guilty of murdering the two girls.
As the story unfolds, Paul Edgecomb learns that, sometimes, miracles happen in the most unexpected places.
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