{"id":6121,"date":"2010-04-23T16:43:00","date_gmt":"2010-04-23T16:43:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/jesuscreed\/2010\/04\/friday-night-at-the-movies-gre.html"},"modified":"2010-04-23T16:43:00","modified_gmt":"2010-04-23T16:43:00","slug":"friday-night-at-the-movies-gre","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/jesuscreed\/2010\/04\/friday-night-at-the-movies-gre.html","title":{"rendered":"Friday Night at the Movies: The Green Mile"},"content":{"rendered":"

MOVIE REVIEW: Jesus Walked the “Green Mile” (1999)<\/span><\/p>\n

by Jeremy Berg<\/span><\/p>\n

www.jeremyberg.org<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

And now for a throwback movie you maybe never thought of as a good Easter time tale with powerful echoes of the passion of Christ and the message of redemption.  <\/span><\/p>\n

It’s already been 11 years since the release of <\/span>The Green Mile (1999). <\/span>The Stephen King film stars Tom Hanks as a Death Row guard and the massively large and mysteriously gifted prisoner named John Coffey played by Michael Clark Duncan. I finally saw it for the first time this weekend at the request of one of my youth group boys who has been powerfully moved by the Christian themes found throughout.  <\/span><\/p>\n

Here’s a general plot summary:<\/span><\/p>\n


\n<\/p>\n


<\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

“Paul Edgecomb is a slightly cynical
\nveteran prison guard on Death row in the 1930’s. His faith, and sanity,
\ndeteriorated by watching men live and die, Edgecomb is about to have a complete
\nturn around in attitude. Enter John Coffey, He’s eight feet tall. He has hands
\nthe size of waffle irons. He’s been accused of the murder of two children…
\nand he’s afraid to sleep in a cell without a night-light. And Edgecomb, as well
\nas the other prison guards – Brutus, a sympathetic guard, and Percy, a stuck
\nup, perverse, and violent person, are in for a strange experience that involves
\nintelligent mice, brutal executions, and the revelation about Coffey’s
\ninnocence and his true identity” (Review by Kadi Lynnith<\/span><\/a>).<\/span><\/p>\n

On a basic level this movie presents the difficulty
\nmany skeptics have in believing in the miraculous. At a much deeper level what
\ncomes through very clearly — even to the casual observer — is the obvious
\nsimilarities between John Coffey and Jesus Christ as depicted especially in the
\nSuffering Servant of Isaiah 53. Here are some of the strongest parallels
\nbetween Christ and Coffey:<\/span><\/p>\n

?         
\n<\/span><\/span><\/span>John
\nCoffey is a hated and despised man, rejected and unwanted because of his race,
\nreputation and size<\/span>. “He was
\ndespised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with
\nsuffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces he was despised,
\nand we esteemed him not” (Isaiah 53:3).<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

?         
\n<\/span><\/span><\/span>John
\nCoffey is a striking blend of power and might clothed with Jesus-like meekness
\nand gentleness.<\/span> He’s 8 feet tall
\nwith barrels for biceps yet afraid of the dark and wouldn’t hurt a fly. “A
\nbruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out,
\ntill he leads justice to victory” (Isaiah 42:3).<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

?         
\n<\/span><\/span><\/span>He has
\nthe ability to see what’s inside people’s hearts. <\/span>“For the LORD sees not as man sees: man looks
\non the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart” (1 Sam
\n16:7).<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

?         
\n<\/span><\/span><\/span>He is
\ncharacterized by “light” and cannot stand the darkness<\/span>. “I am the light of the world; he who follows
\nme will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life” (John
\n8:12); “God is light; <\/span>in
\nhim there is no darkness<\/span> at
\nall” (1 John 1:5).<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

?         
\n<\/span><\/span><\/span>He has
\nthe power to raise the dead back to life.<\/span> “I
\nam the one who brings people back to life, and I am life itself. Those who
\nbelieve in me will live even if they die” (John 11:25).<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

?         
\n<\/span><\/span><\/span>He has
\nthe power to heal sickness and disease; though it comes at a personal cost<\/span>. “Surely he took up our infirmities and
\ncarried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by
\nGod,  smitten by him, and afflicted” (Isaiah 53:4).<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

?         
\n<\/span><\/span><\/span>He
\ncarries the weight of the world’s sin and takes onto himself the sum total of
\nall the world’s suffering, pain and evil<\/span>.
\n“But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our
\niniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by
\nhis wounds we are healed…and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us
\nall” (Isaiah 53:5-6).<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

?         
\n<\/span><\/span><\/span>He is
\nunjustly accused and sentenced to a wrongful death.<\/span> “He was assigned a grave with the
\nwicked, and with the rich in his death, though he had done no
\nviolence, nor was any deceit in his mouth” (Isaiah 53:9).<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

?         
\n<\/span><\/span><\/span>He goes
\nwillingly and quietly to his death, accepting the shame and scorn of his
\nmistaken accusers.<\/span> “He was
\noppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth;  he was
\nled like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is
\nsilent, so he did not open his mouth” (Isaiah 53:7).<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

John Coffey’s trip to the dying woman’s death bed
\nto heal her was resonant of a couple healing stories in the gospels. The
\nelectric chair is an unmistakable modern-day crucifixion scene accompanied by
\nstrange occurrences similar to the earthquake and torn temple curtain.
\n And I’m sure there are many more I’ve missed.  <\/span><\/p>\n

Unfortunately, the parallel ultimately breaks down
\nat the end as Coffey’s death doesn’t liberate Hank’s character Paul from God’s
\npunishment.  Instead, the movie ends on a sour and gospel-less note as
\nPaul is cursed to live a long, lonely extended life for taking Coffey’s
\ninnocent life. <\/span><\/p>\n

Still, this was one of the most powerfully moving
\nfilms dealing with issues of mortality, guilt, pain and redemption I’ve seen in
\na very long time. I would recommend adding it to your list of annual
\nEaster movies right alongside “The Passion of the Christ.”<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

MOVIE REVIEW: Jesus Walked the “Green Mile” (1999) by Jeremy Berg www.jeremyberg.org And now for a throwback movie you maybe never thought of as a good Easter time tale with powerful echoes of the passion of Christ and the message of redemption.   It’s already been 11 years since the release of The Green Mile (1999). The…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":70,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6121","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-gospel"],"yoast_head":"\nFriday Night at the Movies: The Green Mile - Jesus Creed<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/jesuscreed\/2010\/04\/friday-night-at-the-movies-gre.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Friday Night at the Movies: The Green Mile - 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