Common Sense Media Review
Compassionate movie, but has stereotypes, violence, cursing.
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The Green Mile
Parent and Kid Reviews
Based on 17 parent reviews
Based on 78 kid reviews
Kids say this film is a powerful experience that evokes deep emotions, often making viewers cry, while featuring heavy themes of violence, morality, and the justice system. Although the performances, particularly by Tom Hanks, are highly praised, many reviewers caution that its graphic content and emotional weight make it suitable primarily for mature teens rather than younger audiences.
- emotional impact
- graphic violence
- mature themes
- strong performances
- viewer discretion advised
- poignant storytelling
Summarized with AI
Summarized with AI
What's the Story?
In THE GREEN MILE, Paul Edgecombe (Tom Hanks) is a Depression-era Louisiana prison guard. His responsibility is overseeing Death Row, called "The Green Mile" because of the color of the floor between the cells and the electric chair. Newly incarcerated John Coffey (Michael Clarke Duncan) is a Black man convicted of raping and murdering two little White girls. He's a gentle man with the mysterious ability to heal. Edgecombe treats the other characters with kindness, incarcerated and colleagues alike. In sharp contrast, antagonists like another guard or one of the incarcerated men are petty and cruel.
Is It Any Good?
This is a compassionate and well-intended movie with outstanding direction. The Green Mile veers into melodrama at times, with at least one coincidence that's overly convenient, but the humanity of the guards keeps the movie on track most of the time. Hanks plays his most recognizable character type: someone fair, kind, and capable. Bonnie Hunt's performance as Edgecombe's loving wife is a pleasure to watch. Doug Hutchison is terrific as Percy, the nephew of the governor's wife who's assigned to work for Edgecombe and whose combined arrogance and insecurity lead to disaster. And while it's unfortunate that Duncan is forced to shoulder an amalgam of stereotypes, his stellar performance showcases Coffey's innocence and goodness.
It's pretty easy to make a movie where the hero saves the Earth from asteroids or blasts the villains into smithereens, because those kinds of battles give us lots of very cool stuff to look at. It's a lot harder to make a movie that highlights the heroism of small gestures. Teens, who may feel that the problems of the world are too overwhelming to address, can learn from this movie that a small courtesy can have an enormous impact. Just be ready to discuss the ways in which The Green Mile reduces Black men and disabled characters into stereotypes.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about the healing abilities shown in The Green Mile. Where might a power like that come from? What are the responsibilities and burdens? Can someone be a healer without experiencing the pain they relieve in others? What can be healed, and what cannot?
The movie is primarily set in two institutional locations: a prison and a nursing home. What are the similar and different ways in which these two places are shown, and how do they play into the movie's overall themes and messages?
What would be the challenges in adapting a novel into a movie? Are novels generally better or worse than the movies based on them? What are some examples of each?
Discuss the character of John Coffey. Is it positive to see a Black character depicted to such angelic levels of "goodness," or is it flattening and dehumanizing? Is it benign or troubling that a Black man with a cognitive disability is shown willing to accept death by electric chair when he had the opportunity to safely escape?
Movie Details
- In theaters : December 10, 1999
- On DVD or streaming : June 13, 2000
- Cast : Bonnie Hunt , Michael Clarke Duncan , Tom Hanks
- Director : Frank Darabont
- Inclusion Information : Female Movie Actor(s) , Black Movie Actor(s)
- Studio : Warner Bros.
- Genre : Drama
- Topics : Animals ( Mice ) , Book Characters , Faith , Fantasy ( Magic ) , Friendship
- Character Strengths : Compassion , Integrity
- Run time : 188 minutes
- MPAA rating :
- MPAA explanation : violence, language and some sex-related material
- Award : NAACP Image Award - NAACP Image Award Nominee
- Last updated : January 21, 2026
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