"Edgecomb" (Tom Hanks) is in charge of the prison officers who tend to the inmates on death row. He's a decent man who, with the help of his partner "Howell" (David Morse) tries to carry out his task as humanely as possible. Their team also numbers the truly odious "Percy" (Doug Hutchinson). He's an incompetent coward, but he also happens to be the nephew of the state governor, so tends to get away with his obnoxiousness towards the prisoners. That nasty behaviour becomes more pronounced when the giant "Coffey" (Michael Clarke Duncan) arrives. Also newly arrived is a small mouse which befriends, much to the chagrin of "Percy", a fellow inmate (Harry Dean Stanton) and oddly enough it seems to help keep the peace as people come and go. Things take quite an intriguing turn when some physical contact between their gentle giant and "Edgecomb" seems to cure his liver complaint. As the officer realises that this man may well possess healing hands, he and his team begins to bond with him. Meantime, the ghastly little "Percy" screws up his first execution causing an effect straight out of a Wes Craven film and Sam Rockwell's psychopathic "Wild Bill" arrives to liven things up. It's actually Rockwell who steal this for me. His performance is viscerally effective and he really does commit to the role. It's over 3 hours long but the acting is almost perfect as these characters develop and the story unfolds reconciling the brutality of racism, crime and punishment with the attempts at humanity and decency applied by virtually everyone whose lives are touched by these scenarios - even amongst the staff who struggle at times to keep their own priorities in kilter. One of Stephen King's much better stories with depth to the personas, a good baddie to loathe and a message of redemption delivered subtly but powerfully.
