December 9, 1999
Web posted at: 1:32 p.m. EST (1832 GMT)

By Reviewer Paul Clinton

(CNN) -- As we teeter on the edge of the year 2000, Hollywood pundits are gushing over the new breed of film auteurs -- "cinemavericks" including Paul Thomas Anderson (1997's "Boogie Nights" and this year's "Magnolia"), Kevin Smith ("Dogma"), Spike Jonze ("Being John Malkovich") and David O. Russell ("Three Kings"), whose slam-edits, pounding soundtracks and fractured narratives are shaking up the way stories are told, directed and edited.

But in the midst of all the pontificating over these new boy geniuses, sweeping declarations announcing "The Death of the Narrative" and "The New Age of Cinema," most of the films in the front-running for the best picture Academy Award for the year 2000 are returns to good, old-fashioned Hollywood story-telling. Director/writer Frank Darabont's film "The Green Mile" is one of them.

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At the helm of a remarkable group of perfectly cast actors is Tom Hanks, making his bid for Oscar No. 3 in the role of Paul Edgecomb. In 1935, as the Great Depression is at its bleakest, Edgecomb is the head guard on death row at a southern prison called Cold Mountain Penitentiary. The cell block is called "the green mile" because of the color of the floor leading from the cells to the electric chair.

The film begins and ends in present day, with Hank's character as an old man (played by Dabbs Greer). Through flashback, the older Edgecomb leads us into his remembrance of a mystical encounter on that green-hued stretch of linoleum with a gentle giant named John Coffey, a man awaiting execution in that distant time and place.

Michael Clarke Duncan, in his first major film role (he's had small parts before, including a role in the 1998 blockbuster "Armageddon" starring Bruce Willis), plays the doomed Coffey. He's been found guilty of the brutal murders of two 9-year-old sisters and sentenced to die in the electric chair.

Duncan does an incredible job of going from a hulking menace with a seemingly damaged mind, to a near state-of-grace by the end of the film.

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His entrance into the story is carefully orchestrated by Darabont. While Duncan stands 6'5" and weighs 320 pounds, his character is an even more imposing 7 feet tall and 350 pounds, so Darabont rarely puts Duncan in a full-body two-shot with his fellow actors. Instead, we see Coffey in bits and pieces from extremely low angles. It works. Duncan, as Coffey, comes across as huge!

We also meet Coffey's fellow inmates, waiting for their dates with death. They include a wily Cajun named Eduard "Del" Delacroix (Michael Jeter) and a repentant Native-American named Arlen Bitterbuck (Graham Greene, nominated for best supporting actor for 1990's "Dances With Wolves"). Both men have come to terms with their fates, and both appear ready to pay their debts to society.

In the weeks leading up to Coffey's date with death, we slowly become familiar with the odd routine on death row. Delacroix adopts a mouse who has wandered into the prison and names him Mr. Jingles. This act humanizes the convicted killer and, by their reactions to his deed, does the same for most of the men around him.

Edgecomb's fellow guards include gruff but gentle enforcer "Brutal" Brutus Howell, played expertly by David Morse. Harry Terwilliger, a veteran guard who's seen it all, is portrayed by Jeffrey DeMunn. And Barry Pepper, who appeared with Hanks in "Saving Private Ryan," plays a sensitive young guard named Dean Stanton.

Coffey's story slowly reveals itself, and as the tale unfolds -- and various "miracles" begin to happen -- it becomes increasingly impossible to believe in his guilt. Edgecomb, and his men, begin to question how a man with such great gifts for healing the sick can also be a cold-blooded killer.

Then dramatic tension builds as this delicate balance between the "dead men walking" and their keepers is violently broken by two men, one a prisoner, one a guard. The prisoner is the vicious William Wharton, who's given the nickname "Wild Bill" because of his love of killing sprees. He's played with evil glee and great authority by Sam Rockwell.

The guard who rocks the quiet world of death row is a sleazy man named Percy Wetmore. His aunt is married to the state's governor, which gives him both political clout and job security. But he's a despicable worm who gets a sadistic kick out of taunting the prisoners.

Carrying this role is Doug Hutchison, who specializes in portraying people we love to hate -- past roles include a redneck rapist in "A Time To Kill" and a liver-eating mutant on "The X-Files."

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Gradually building to a feverish emotional pitch -- including one of the most horrifying depictions of an electrocution ever put on film -- "The Green Mile" will undoubtedly make Academy voters sit up and take notice. Look for both Morse and Duncan to be nominated for their acting chops, and Darabont to get directing and screenplay adaptation nods. The ensemble nature of this piece, however, makes Hanks a long shot for best actor notice.

So far, Darabont's career has been as remarkable as it has been sparse. The 40-year-old writer/director made a stunning debut in 1994 with "The Shawshank Redemption," which starred Tim Robbins and Morgan Freeman. That movie, another period piece set in a prison and based on a novela by Stephen King, received seven Academy Award nominations.

"The Green Mile" is also from King, but this time the initial material was a sprawling six-part novel serialized in 1996 -- making this film's adaptation an even more praiseworthy accomplishment.

Yes, Virginia, with a running time exceeding three hours, this film does need a serious commitment from the viewer, but the time will be well rewarded. "The Green Mile" is an epic. But these things take time, and while this is not your typical larger-than-life story -- it takes place mostly in a small, 1,000-square-foot set, rather than on any type of gigantic canvas preferred by directors like David Lean -- it is nevertheless an epic: An epic of the soul.

"The Green Mile" is rated R for violence, language and some sex-related material. 180 minutes.

"The Green Mile" is a production of CNN Interactive sister company Castle Rock Entertainment, a Time Warner property.