Movie Reviews

It's a bit strange that The Shawshank Redemption is as good as it is. On the surface it doesn't really sound like it's got much going for it: it's a prison drama about two inmates becoming friends (it's definitely not an action movie -- there's not much in the way of action or violence here), it's long, and it moves at a very deliberate pace (some might say that equates to being 'slow'). When released in theatres it didn't perform very well at the box office (despite positive reviews), and some analysts speculated that the film's apparently awkward name might've kept people away.

Whatever. The fact that it's a great film has rightfully caused it's DVD sales and television showings to make up for its disappointing box office performance. The Shawshank Redemption is one of the few films out there that is thoroughly liked by just about everyone who's seen it, even though most of those people probably didn't even see it until a year or two (or more) after it was released in theatres.

I think it's the acting of the two leads that makes the movie so compelling. Tim Robbins as Andy Dufresne is quiet, very deliberate in speech when he does talk, and exudes an internal strength of mind that most anyone else wrongly sent to jail would be unlikely to uphold. Morgan Freeman plays Ellis "Red" Redding, the most respected of all prisoners in Shawshank Penitentiary, because he's the one who can "get things" from the outside: contraband like cigarettes, posters, and that sort of thing. This is the perfect Morgan Freeman rol: he's wise but a little stubborn, and prone to lending his excellent voice to the film's excellent voice-overs (see Million Dollar Baby for another example of Freeman playing this sort of role).

We learn late in the film that hope is what drives Andy, and keeps him strong. The whole movie turns out to be about hope, in fact, but not just Andy's. It's about the hope that Andy instils in others -- particularly in Red -- and the lesson he teaches others about how, so long as you have hope, the highest walls of any prison can't prevent your mind from being free.

At nearly two and a half hours long, The Shawshank Redemption gives lots of time to other characters, too. There's Brooks Hatlin, the old prison librarian who struggles to adapt to life 'on the outside' when he's released; there's Tommy, the hot-shot smart-ass greaser who wants to set his life straight and asks Andy to help him complete his high-school diploma; Warden Norton is equal parts honest Christian and greedy tyrant; Captain Hadley is the meanest of all the prison guards, which possibly stems from his concerns about income tax; and Bogs Diamond, leader of the perverted 'Sisters', is intent on making Andy's life in prison as miserable as possible. Director Frank Darabont takes time with each of these characters and makes them important parts of the movie. Noboody in the movie is just filler.

But it's Robbins and Freeman who give the movie so much life. Individually Robbins and Freeman are great, but together their friendship in The Shawshank Redemption shines as one of the best friendships (or any relationship, for that matter) that I've seen in a movie.