Desperation and The Green Mile
https://www.nytimes.com/1996/10/26/books/desperation-and-the-green-mile.html
In his largely negative review from 1996, New York Times critic Robert Polito criticizes The Green Mile for its maudlin attitude and underdeveloped characters.
The Magical Negro Trope in Literature and Film
Although it focuses largely on the film version of The Green Mile, scholar Sydney Cusic makes a trenchant argument about the problems with the trope, which relates directly to the novel.