THE GREEN MILE (1999). Frank Darabont's adaptation of the Stephen King serial novel is, like the Green Mile (death row), so long. Old Paul Edgecomb (Dabbs Greer) breaks down while watching Top Hat on TV in a rest home. We flash back to a Louisiana prison during the Depression, where young Paul (a perfunctory Tom Hanks), the head screw on the Green Mile, begins to have doubts when John Coffey (Michael Clarke Duncan), a simple-minded, seven-foot-tall black giant convicted of killing two little girls, moves onto the Mile. Not only does John seem innocent, he can perform miracles. Which leaves Paul and the movie wondering how to deal with not just John's death sentence but the whole problem of good, evil, and human suffering. Overlong and potholed, The Green Mile is still worth the journey. Oscar-nominated for Best Film and Best Supporting Actor (Duncan).

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