Among the things that three films may have in common are performers, directors or subject matter. The films, The Shawshank Redemption, The Green Mile and The Hurricane, have several things in common. All three films follow the results of men wrongly convicted of murder. Two of the films, The Shawshank Redemption and The Green Mile, were adapted from original works of the same author, Stephen King. They also were directed by the same person, Frank Darabont. In addition, all three films share something else. They are all films about individuals who have been judged because of the way they look.

             In The Green Mile, John Coffey, played by Michael Clarke Duncan, is on death row after being found guilty of murdering two little white girls. The Green Mile is the name given to Coal Mountain Louisiana State Penitentiary"s death row. Coffey, a black man, was found with the broken bodies of the two dead girls in his arms, and despite protestations of innocence, he is convicted and sentenced to death. The story is told in flashbacks by Paul Edgecomb (Tom Hanks). Edgecomb is the main character and the head guard on death row. He comes to believe that his newest charge is innocent when he sees the goodness in him. He is able to get past the obvious appearances.

             Coffey is an imposing figure, and a jury in 1930s Louisiana must have had little difficulty believing that this man could have committed the crime. It turns out that Coffey has been completely misjudged. Not only is he not evil, but he has a gift of healing, able to cure people by a laying on of hands. "Coffey cannot read or write, seems simpleminded, causes no trouble and exudes goodness. The reason Paul consults the lawyer is because he comes to doubt this prisoner could have killed the little girls" (Ebert, The Shawshank Redemption). One reviewer has even drawn a parallel between John Coffey and another major historical figure with the same initials.