The Green Mile is the distance it feels like between a cell on death row, and the electric chair, fondly known as "Old Sparky," waiting at the end.
While the film has been called a "long mile," three hours, in fact, and not an emerald crusted road, it has been called a "rare gem," at least an emerald.
The film is based on a Stephen King story, actual a six-part serial, and is directed by Frank Darabont, the same team who produced the award-winning Shawshank Redemption six years ago, which also dealt with prison.
Though both films deal with prison, there, apparently, is where the similarity ends. Told in a series of flashbacks, Tom Hanks stars as the young Paul Edgecomb, the head cellblock death row guard at a Louisiana State Penitentiary in the depression era, 1935.
Like Titantic, three hours long, it begins and ends in one day. However, unlike Titantic, the three hours are packed with a remarkable story and excellent acting, relating an unusual and poignant relationship.
Edgecomb tells the tale of one inmate, a man who possesses a magical and mysterious gift, who changes his life forever. According to reviews, the story avoids all the usual prison cliches, and pulls some startling switches. One critic says he "sat up in his seat," about an hour through the story, and then, once again.
The prisoner, John Coffey (Michael Clarke Duncan), a giant black man, is convicted of raping and murdering two white girls. In fact, Coffey was found with the bloody victims in his arms. Needless to say, the guards expect the very worst from the man.
What can they think when Coffey asks to keep a light on at night because he is afraid of the dark? This is the beginning of the curious relationship between Edgecomb and his prisoner.
The movie ends in the present day with an elderly Edgecomb, (Dabbs Greer), playing out the end of the story.
It is rated R for violence, language and some sex related material.
It starts Thursday at Diamond Cinemas.
