I am amazed at the genius of Frank Darabont. SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION is the type of film that many directors spend their entire lives trying to make. That film alone is worthy of placing Darabont in the top echelon of modern directors. However, with THE GREEN MILE, Darabont has triumphed again. This screenplay is not as in depth as the SHAWSHANK shooting script. Nevertheless, it is still quite informative and is a useful resource for aspiring filmmakers. Transcribing an already successful published work into a successful movie is extremely difficult and rarely happens. However, Darabont has done it twice. A person can learn a great deal about writing just by reading this book. There's no better way to learn than to learn from a master.

I bought this book after I saw the movie. The main reason is because this film touched me deeply. Secondly I collect screen plays. This is a true gem! The film's beauty is printed as an unforgettable story. Screen play is based on Novel series by Stephen King. Excellent screen play!!

I discovered the first episodes of The Green Mile in Biloxi, Mississippi, and the last ones in France. I read them. I was moved by strong emotions, practically to tears, and yet I remained unsatisfied. I reread it when it came out in one volume, and I had the same sensation of frustration. The book, the story had two lines and the unity was not clear, the message was not obvious and it seemed to be that there is always a devil somewhere to torture, at times to death, the righteous and the innocent. The two time lines were not really reinforcing each other. The bad nurse of the old people's home was not a real continuation of Percy, and Percy did not have and could not have, does not have and cannot have a continuation. Evil in man is repetitive, but in no way continuing, developing, getting any kind of amplification with time. I have just been listening to a tape about the psychiatric hospitals of the old days (up to the mid 70s in France), and the doctors, the nurses, and even the patients, those who dedicated their whole life to get rid of that institution, compared these asylums to concentration camps and demonstrated how the inmates were reduced to animals, and yet resisting, how the rations (during World War II) where starvation rations meant to slowly kill the inmates by starving them. Doctor Lucien Bonnafé, MD, cannot be in any way stopped in his explanation of this alienation, of this reduction of men to vegetables, especially with the chemical straight jacket. Hitler did not invent concentration camps, and he did not invent eugenics, the cleansing of society of their misfits. He just systematised, industrialised it. But, But, BUT, I finally got to the screenplay of The Green Mile by Frank Darabont. He got that second time line out. He recentered the whole story on Paul, the only one Paul that crosses time. And then the light came out so strong that I was not moved any more, but literally blinded into ever stronger and never before experienced emotions, into unquenchable tears, tears that were a salvation, a redemption, an epiphany that would not ever satisfy and quench my thirst for optimistic humanism. This human world contains angels that can transform evil into good, and it is John Coffey, a black man. He has done that for a very long time, till the one day he gets trapped by his naivete and simplemindedness, because angels are naive, simpleminded and maybe slightly retarded, since then cannot conceive evil. When one does only good things and can only bring good news to the world, he is totally isolated, rejected, and thus he becomes the prey of all evil beings who will abuse him and trampled him down. And yet he is not completely trapped, because he comes to the point when he wants to go, to leave this world, where he can only love and be loved by fireflies. So he is happy when he gets trapped, relieved of this enormous responsibility of making the world better, of killing or repairing evil. Even if it means Death Row. But, before leaving, he gives his good nature to some other beings, even if he cannot give them his powers. Here it is a mouse, Mr Jingles, and a man, Paul. And his gift takes the form of a very long life. The very long life of telling the truth, the truth of God, the truth that killing is ugly, no matter whether it is criminal or judicial. Only life is beautiful, and the story of life has to be told forever and ever, to push death away, even if it is Death Row. This life story has to be told over and over again, just like a mouse will play with a spool forever. And thus, Darabont gets us to a universal lesson, to a unique and eternal metaphor. The writer, the storyteller is forever the one who will bring life to earth, real life, the life of justice, of beauty, of emotions, of truth, of entertainment, of happiness. The storyteller is God himself, or at least his angel, because he nourishes our souls with the desire to know a better world. When are we ever going to have the film, the video, so that we can be moved to frantic tears by the images that will demultiply the screenplay into a real piece of human paradise, in our dreams, in our night, in our daydream, in our sunshine of hope ?

Give it 3-1/2 stars but it is notup to the standard we hold Follettto. The plot is good but draggedout and has little suspense. Healternates with a group of friendsat Harvard and now as scientistsin the space program. Double agents are not revealed until theend where most of the action takesplace. Dr. Lucas, Luke, wakes up in apublic rest room looking like a bum. He has amnesa but his instincts tell him this is not howhe lives. By deduction he figureshe is a professional person with agood education. Most of the firstpart is learning who he is. Thenhe tries to determine why he wasgoing to Huntsville and WashingtonDC. when he should have been at the Cape preparing for the missile launching. The next part he spendstime with his old friend, trying to figure out who the double agents are and why he married his wife and why they don't have anychildren. Follett tries to putsuspense into all this but it lacks the sparkle so it becomesho-hum reading.He and his true love finally figure things out and swing intoaction to prevent the destructionof the missile.I had read this book before but did not remember it except certainparts seemed familiar. Guess itdidn't make much of an impressionthe first time around either.I would say skip this one or if you do want to read it, borrow itfron the library and spend yourmoney on a better book.I'm looking up the next book tomake sure I want to buy it..

1 star for mr. follett and his creative juices coming up with the story
another star for a fast paced novel that makes a good read on the plane
and the last star for keeping me entertained

i withhold the last two stars: good but not great, and the other follet books are GREAT. also, i felt it was flat, i really like the idea of the story, but never felt it.

The title of the book that I am reviewing is "Code To Zero," by Ken Follett. This is one of my favorite books. It is a mystery/suspense story. The main character is a guy named Luke and the supporting characters are Anthony, Billie, and Elspeth. There are a few more characters, but they're not very important so I won't name them. The story takes place in several different places. The year is 1958, but there are a lot of flash-backs, so it's kind of hard to keep up with the story. The Cold War is just ending and America is still in the space race with Russia. NASA keeps delaying the launching of the Explorer 1 because of weather conditions. But, the real reason is because there was word of a soviet spies who plan on sabotaging the launch of the rocket.
The soviet spies found a way to destroy the Explorer 1 before it can exit the earth's atmosphere. If they succeed they can stop America's last chance to beat the Russian's and win the space race. There are only two people who know what is going on and can put a stop to it. Luke, the main character, is a who just wants to know the truth. In the beginning of the story, Luke wakes up in the men's-room of a subway with no memory of his past. He doesn't even know his own name. He's dressed like a bum so he automatically guesses that he is a hobo and drank all of his memory away. But, later in the book he finds out that he is really a rocket scientist and somebody deliberately erased his memory because he knew some very valuable information. With the knowledge he had, he could guarantee the outcome of the space race.
Anthony was Luke's best friend in collage until he switched sides. Now, his mission in life is to stop America from beating Russia in the space race and making sure that Luke dose not interfere. His causes are really unknown so I'll just call him a traitor. Billie is helping Luke get his memory back and stop Anthony. She is also in love with Luke, but you will find out more about that if you ever read the book. Elspeth is Luke's wife, but there is more to her than there may seem. To bad telling you that would ruin most of the story for you. This is a great book with lots of action and suspense. But, even it has some cons. The beginning of the book is kind of slow and there are a few pauses in the middle, but that just builds it up for more action and suspense. If you don't mind those small flaws then you will love "Code To Zero".

The story by Mary Shelling has made another big screen debut almost 60 years later then the original one. They movies about the same old frankenstein getting loose in the village and terrorizing everyone only this is 20 times more gory! Changed a little bit for the better but all the same a great horror movie. Frankenstein doesn't have the bolts coming out of his neck. Rated R: for graphic violence