The Green Mile 1999

Critics score:
80 / 100

Reviews provided by RottenTomatoes

Roger Ebert, At the Movies: By taking the extra time, Darabont has made King's The Green Mile into a story which develops and unfolds, which has detail and space. Read more

Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times: Moves with the suffocating deliberateness of a river of molasses. Read more

Susan Stark, Detroit News: The Green Mile effectively sideswipes the enduring hot political issues it raises to force viewers to a pro-Hanks position. Read more

Philip Wuntch, Dallas Morning News: One terrific flick! Read more

Janet Maslin, New York Times: Unassumingly strong, moving performances and Darabont's durable storytelling make it a trip worth taking. Read more

Steve Murray, Atlanta Journal-Constitution: A manipulative but absorbing and deeply satisfying adaptation of Stephen King's prison novel. Read more

Lisa Alspector, Chicago Reader: Much of the three-hour movie takes place in the prison, but the resonant characterization, expansive plotting, and judicious use of exterior locations and flashbacks turn the walls into windows. Read more

Louis B. Parks, Houston Chronicle: Consistently captivating. Read more

Paul Clinton (CNN.com), CNN.com: An epic! Read more

Lisa Schwarzbaum, Entertainment Weekly: In its own old-fashioned way, Frank Darabont's style of picture making is well matched to King-size yarn spinning. Read more

Rick Groen, Globe and Mail: Three long hours of wind, an exercise in titanic self-importance intent on passing off klunky rhetoric as poignant drama. Read more

David Ansen, Newsweek: A lumbering, self-important three-hour melodrama that defies credibility at every turn. Read more

Peter Rainer, New York Magazine/Vulture: Darabont works big but thinks small, or at least without great complexity. Read more

James Berardinelli, ReelViews: An affecting motion picture. Read more

Andrew O'Hehir, Salon.com: A cracking good yarn that earns its laughter, its wonder and its tears. Read more

Edward Guthmann, San Francisco Chronicle: Frank Darabont is such a committed filmmaker, and believes so earnestly and intensely in the stories he puts onscreen, that it seems unsporting to point out that hokum is his middle name. Read more

Richard Corliss, TIME Magazine: To more than a few viewers, this one will feel like a life sentence. Read more

Derek Adams, Time Out: The supernatural elements carry an undeniable emotional charge, but the solution to the underlying murder mystery is disappointingly tidy and trite. Read more

Todd McCarthy, Variety: The Green Mile often grabs, and generally holds, one's attention through the long journey. Read more

Michael Atkinson, Village Voice: The Green Mile is irritatingly repetitious. Read more

Desson Thomson, Washington Post: Brilliant storytelling! Read more