Get the chips and dips ready – and the hankies, as you will shed a few tears
One of Tom Hanks’ most powerful films is on Film4 tonight.
If you’re not heading out, or you’re trying to save some cash, this three-hour epic is perfect to fill your Friday evening.
The Green Mile is a 1999 film, starring Tom Hanks and Michael Duncan Clarke, based on Stephen King’s best-selling novel of the same name.
It’s a bit of a marathon, particularly after accounting for TV ad breaks, but for a chilled out evening the emotive narrative weaved by Frank Darabont is second-to-none.
The supernatural prison drama, set in the 1930s, focuses on Michael Duncan Clarke’s convicted child murderer, sitting on death row.
He comes across as a gentle giant and the guards find it difficult to believe he is capable of such a horrific crime. Whatsmore, the man appears to demonstrate miraculous healing powers.
Head guard Paul Edgecombe (Hanks) wonders whether the convict could help save the life of the prison warden’s dying wife.
Director Darabont also collaborated with Hanks on The Shawshank Redemption, another Stephen King adaptation, and the pair reunited for The Green Mile.
The film’s stirring score also comes from Darabont’s Shawshank collaborator Thomas Newman.
It received four Oscar nominations, including best picture and best supporting actor for then-relative-newcomer Michael Clarke Duncan (who sadly passed away in 2012), and sits in IMDb’s top 50 films at #30.
The Green Mile is on Film4 at 9pm tonight – and 10pm if you miss the start.
