The Green Mile – Worth the 3 hrs Spent travelling along this mile!!

Have you ever seen a movie which runs for as long as three hours?? And if at all you’ve seen one, did you feel that some scenes could’ve been cut down?? Well, with this movie one will never feel so!! We haven’t seen a movie so fascinating with just ten characters in it!!
The movie actually takes place during the period of recession/ regression in the U.S. Those who are being sentenced to death are sent to the Green Mile. The ‘E’ block is where they are kept and it is run by Tom Hanks and his colleagues. The floors of the Mile are fluorescent green in colour, and the moment you notice it you realize that you are in for a master piece!! The story is quite simple and yet complicated to explain. (We do know that this is a clichéd sentence but couldn’t restrain ourselves from using it, simply because the movie is really so!!)
The inmates of the Mile are a faith Healer, a psychotic child molester and two other people who are about to be hanged!! The other two guys to be hanged are portrayed well and the director creates sympathy in the viewers mind for them!! The entire movie is about the huge faith healer and the reason why he’s in jail. His story is well connected and well enacted out. Macdonald’s role is a surprise as the story moves on. One of Tom’s juniors' is an arrogant miscreant who learns his lesson. Tom’s boss and his family also come in and go. The most joyous and enthralling character in this movie is a sneaky little RAT!! All the others express themselves by speaking and acting, whereas this one just says nothing but plays a role of his life. The faith healer- well your heart will feel heavy for him, at the end!! The rat and Tom go on to become best buddies!! They kinda live forever.

After reading this you might even think that what’s there in this movie to be shot for 3 hours?? But then please do watch it for yourself and find the answer. Never ever has a movie, so lengthy, travels at such a pace. You will never feel that it really took 3 hours for watching this. Can’t call it a master piece, simply because this is not about art or an aspect of direction. This movie in plain words is all about life and the bad things in it happening for the good ones on earth. This movie is all about what you actually believe in and what you actually want to believe in!! Appearances do mislead us!! What we tend to presume is not what actually happens!!
This is based on Stephen King’s book. His other books that have been made as motion pictures are the Shawshank Redemption and The Shining.
We haven’t said anything about the artists at all, because it is the characters which you can remember after watching this epic tale of life and death!! Sit back and watch yourself the two extremities of living beings on earth- Life & Death!!
And please don’t think that this movie or we are preaching about life. Neither of us are!!
In a line, Green Mile is a piece of on screen Literature work well crafted and well served!!
Scores are- 4/5
Story and screenplay-1. Cinematography & art-1. Characters-1. Direction-1.

The Negotiator- Terms Well Served

By Gowtham and Arunan

Hey there!! Glad to be back!!!It’s been a while since we wrote a review. Well, exams and other boring stuff gobbled up sometime. It is not that we dint watch any movie (we can never stop doing it), we just couldn’t muster up enough time to write some. Sorry for keeping you all in the dark so far. And so now, Lights on!!

We saw this movie without any expectation. You know..the lazy weekend afternoon movie..But just for the fact that Kevin Spacey was involved in the movie we showed some interest for watching it. The screenplay, dialogues, Direction and the way the characters performed in this movie left us dumbstruck!! We were like “How did we miss this movie for so long!!”

Well the movie starts off with a bang!! Samuel.L.jackson is portrayed as the protagonist and he deals a hostage situation in his own ways of doing things. The next 5 mins we are just given a sneak preview of his family and friends. And then people hold your breath because this is an excellent roller coaster ride on which you are on board!! The movie moves at a frenetic pace!! Sam’s friend is murdered in front of his own eyes. And the reason is because Sam’s friend knows certain details regarding a conspiracy. And then as usual it is as usual the protagonist who gets caught and is produced in the court. And now Sam himself takes an office bearer along with his assistants as hostage!! And then some scenes of wit and excitement ensue. In comes Kevin Spacey and the movie takes a turn. Kevin is handled the task of negotiating with Sam and bringing back the hostages. Now, how does the latter convince the former?? How does the former convince the latter that he is really not the one to be punished?? Who killed Sam’s best buddy? Who are the one’s involved in the conspiracy? How does Sam expose the conspiracy? These are some of the questions which will be answered in style as the movie unfolds itself.

The dialogues are etched out neatly and sweetly. Sam-Kevin duel is one of the best ones to be seen!! Every time one scores over the other. Who wins at the end- is the real surprise!! Thrillers like this have to be crisply edited. And that is achieved perfectly in this movie. You can never complain of a single moment when the screen story lags. Credit goes to the editor. The screenplay is original and authentic. Casting is perfect. Bringing out thoughts on the screen is very difficult and the director somehow nails it with ease and grace!! It is not that everything is so good in this movie; it’s just that things are definitely not at all bad in this one!!

On the flip side, as Danny Roman, the ease with which Jackson moves through and gets the people hostage is far fetched. The typical clichéd climax with the culprit being outwitted is a let down to an engrossing thriller like this one. Still the excellent duos, Jackson and Spacey steal the show in this work.

Sometimes movies made in Hollywood are so silent with the promotion but then they are the ones that leave the audience awestruck. This is one such movie according to us. We, for sure, liked it.

Rating : 3.75/5!!

Casting-1. On screen performance-1. Dialogues-1. Technical aspects- 0.75.