The Shawshank Redemption (1994)

The Shawshank Redemption

Review #19
Castle Rock, 1994
Mov No. 33087
Genre: Drama
Directed by: Frank Darabont
Staring: Tim Robbins, Morgan Freeman, Bob Gunton, Clancy Brown
Oscars: 7 Nominations (Best picture, lead actor (Morgan Freeman), director, screenplay, cinematography, film editing, sound)
AFI 100 years, 100 _____ tributes: None
Runtime: 2h 22min
Best quote: "I don’t need some wife killin' banker to tell me where the bear shit in the buckwheat!" - Byron Hadley

Andy Dufresne (Tim Robbins), is a manager of a large Portland, Maine bank. He thinks everything is all right... until his wife demands a divorce in Reno. Only days latter, his wife and her lover were found shot dead. But not by him. Wrongfully imprisoned for the double homicide, Andy is sent to Shawshank State Prison in Maine, one of the worst in the country.

Andy does what he must do to survive in prison; namely, befriending the one man who could help him... Ellis "Red" Redding (Morgan Freeman). Red can get anything you want, for cost... plus his usual 20%. For starters, Andy asks for a rock hammer, and then a poster of Rita Hayworth.

But for Andy, life on the "inside" is terrible; for the first two years he is sodomized by the resident "bull-queers" and is sent to the infirmary for over a month.

The years go by, and time drags on... eventually though, he makes alliances with other inmates, and even the captain of the Guards, Byron Hadley (Clancy Brown). While doing some out-door work, Andy overhears Hadley telling some other guards that he got $35,000 from his dead brother. But, Hadley says, he won't get much of it. You know, "Uncle Sam." But Andy knows the secret to keeping every cent of the money. And he tells Hadley this, nearly getting himself killed in the process.

       "And that's how it came to pass that on the second-to-last day of the job, the convict crew that tarred the plate factory roof in the spring of '49 wound up sitting in a row at ten o'clock in the morning drinking icy cold, Bohemia-style beer, courtesy of the hardest screw that ever walked a turn at Shawshank State Prison."

But as Andy gets comfy with the guards and Warden, they start to make him do things he doesn't want to do. If he scratches their backs, they keep him alive. However Andy soon tires of it. He's fed up with the death and dirty money. He can't live this way any longer.

Personal Comments

Based on the Stephen King novella Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption, from the book Different Seasons, which also spawned the hit films Stand By Me and Apt Pupil, The Shawshank Redemption was a total failure when first it was released in 1994.

It couldn't have had a more clunky title (They did right to drop the 'Rita Hayworth' part), and audiences certainly didn't want to see a 2-hour prison drama. There was no action at all, and the film is kind of slow to get off the ground. Although lauded by critics and test audiences, the public stayed away in droves. It bombed.

The Golden Globes came and went; the film earned two nominations: one for Morgan Freeman (lead actor) and one for Frank Darabont's brilliant script.

But then the Academy Awards were announced. The film scored seven nominations including best picture, lead actor (Freeman again), and director.

People flooded video stores with requests for the film, to see just what the fuss was all about. People started to see why this was nominated for best picture. Because it was great film! Everywhere you went, the film was sold out. No copies in stock. Word of mouth began to spread. The film was an underground hit and fast became a cult classic.

To this day, the film is still consistently out of stock; it is reordered almost every month.

Like Rodney Dangerfield, the film gets no respect. IT bombed on release, and even the American Film Institute didn't think that highly of (it didn't make any of their top 100 lists, even Movies).

The Shawshank Redemption, ultimately, is a film about friendship. It is about to people, destined to meet, who become inseparable. We want to know what happens to these two people. What happens to the wrongly convicted? What happens to the man who freely admits his guilt?

We are held on the edge of our seat, eagerly awaiting the redemption. We know from the title that it's coming. And then BANG! Huzzah! A surprise ending that is truly a redemption.

I think one of the reasons I like The Shawshank Redemption so much is that the film is so gratifying. It is what everyone wants to see happen. After everything that's happened to Andy, we only want to see good things happen to him. Red was right, you know: "After Tommy was killed, Andy figured he'd been here just about long enough."

I can't say what the universal appeal of Shawshank is, but it must have something to do with the way the film turns out; the gratification that the many wrongs have finally be written. No wonder it's been #2 on the IMDB's top 250 list for over a decade.

03-06-04

Updated 08-06-06

Plot:
There is no action, but the story is well-told and well written.

Visual Effects:
The cinematography is excellent. Prison Passovers and other unique camera angles help create the atmosphere of the picture.

Sound:
Excellent score. Although not recognized, the soundtrack helps the film immeasurably.

Character Development:
The Shawshank Redemption is like a western where a strangers rides into town, cleans up the garbage - the corruption - while facing adversity all along the way.

This is not unlike Morgan Freeman's other film, Unforgiven, where Clint Eastwood plays the part of Andy.

This film is basically telling the story of how one man changes the lives of almost everyone he touches. By the end of the film, everyone is different. What we really want to know is if our heroes end up together. What happens to the two best friends? Do they make it out alive? Do they die? We've been with them for over two hours, we want to see what happens to them. It would be a travesty if we didn't find out.

Atmosphere:
Right from the opening scenes we are pulled into the troubled world of Andy Dufresne. The film moves quickly and gets to the heart of the film right away.

Realism:
Warren’s Rating:

Movies it was nominated with for Best Picture:
*Forrest Gump; Four Weddings and a Funeral; Pulp Fiction; Quiz Show

FINAL RATING


10/10

Is the movie worth your time to watch?

30-04-03

Updated 08-06-06

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