I saw this movie once and I will never see it again. Not that I don't recognize that the film is a solid 2+ hours of tense, effective drama, crisp directing and good acting. It's just because of those 2 or 3 scenes. And it's not that I am squeamish about movies--I like decent senseless violence movies, it's just that Green Mile is something very different and somehow much worse.
When listening to the score for Green Mile, I found that the music was almost inseparable in my mind from the film. I had a lot of trouble appreciating the music. So in a way, Thomas Newman is to be credited for matching the score perfectly with the movie. But it makes for a 75 minute extension to the film on album. This is disturbing. I wonder, however, if Newman had put in a few themes the score might have stood better on its own. But the 75 minutes is virtually themeless and morbid and unnerving. I would agree with Clemmensen that this is not nearly as good as Shawshank Redemption. Certainly a missed opportunity for Newman to make a knock-'em-dead thematic score (such that David Newman has such a knack for), but noone can argue that the score was not effective in the film. Even so, noone can argue it is a masterpiece.