The Shawshank Redemption

Rating:
Summary: Wait just a minute there...
Review: Don't buy this. Not yet anyway, as a special edition is coming out this fall. While I can't add anything to this perfect film that hasn't been said already, you should know that you're just getting that here: the film. Well, there are production notes and cast bios, but who cares about that? Everyone knows damn-well that there are deleted scenes missing here. So just wait a few months and get the collector's edition, which is most likely going to be 2 discs with a commentary, the deleted scenes, and making-of features.

Rating:
Summary: Very Entertaining
Review: At this point in the review process it would be pointless to tell you about this movie. So many other reviewers have already done it pretty darn good.
However, I can tell you that I wholeheartedly enjoyed this motion picture. An absolutely great picture that is a must see.

If you haven't seen this picture, then you should. This is a movie to own!

Rating:
Summary: Great story, wondrously told and acted
Review: At the heart of this extraordinary movie is a brilliant and indelible performance by Morgan Freeman as Red, the man who knows how to get things, the "only" guilty man at Shawshank prison. He was nominated by the Academy for Best Actor in 1995 but didn't win. (Tom Hanks won for Forrest Gump.) What Freeman does so beautifully is to slightly underplay the part so that the eternal boredom and cynicism of the lifer comes through, and yet we can see how very much alive with the warmth of life the man is despite his confinement. Someday Morgan Freeman is going to win an Academy Award and it will be in belated recognition for this performance, which I think was a little too subtle for some Academy members to fully appreciate at the time.

But Freeman is not alone. Tim Robbins plays the hero of the story, banker Andy Dufresne, who has been falsely convicted of murdering his wife and her lover. Robbins has a unique quality as an actor in that he lends ever so slightly a bemused irony to the characters he plays. It is as though part of him is amused at what he is doing. I believe this is the best performance of his career, but it might be compared with his work in The Player (1992), another excellent movie, and in Mystic River (2003) for which he won an Oscar as Best Supporting Actor.

It is said that every good story needs a villain, and in the Bible-quoting, Bible-thumping, massively hypocritical, sadistic Warden Samuel Norton, played perfectly by Bob Gunton, we have a doozy. I want to tell you that Norton is so evil that fundamentalist Christians actually hate this movie because of how precisely his vile character is revealed. They also hate the movie because of its depiction of violent, predatory homosexual behavior (which is the reason the movie is rated R). On the wall of his office (hiding his safe with its ill-gotten contents and duplicitous accounts) is a framed plaque of the words "His judgment cometh and that right soon." The irony of these words as they apply to the men in the prison and ultimately to the warden himself is just perfect. You will take delight, I promise.

Here is some other information about the movie that may interest you. As most people know, it was adapted from a novella by Stephen King entitled "Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption." Rita Hayworth figures in the story because Red procures a poster of her for Andy that he pins up on the wall of his cell. The poster is a still from the film Gilda (1946) starring her and Glenn Ford. We see a clip from the black and white film as the prisoners watch, cheering and hollering when Rita Hayworth appears. If you haven't seen her, check out that old movie. She really is gorgeous and a forerunner of Marilyn Monroe, who next appears on Andy's wall in a still from The Seven Year Itch (1955). It's the famous shot of her in which her skirt is blown up to reveal her shapely legs. Following her on Andy's wall (and, by the way, these pinups figure prominently in the plot) is Rachel Welsh from One Million Years B.C. (1966). In a simple and effective device these pinups show us graphically how long Andy and Red have been pining away.

Frank Darabont's direction is full of similar devices that clearly and naturally tell the story. There is Brooks (James Whitmore) who gets out after fifty years but is so institutionalized that he can't cope with life on the outside and hangs himself. Playing off of this is Red's periodic appearance before the parole board where his parole is summarily REJECTED. Watch how this plays out at the end.

The cinematography by Roger Deakins is excellent. The editing superb: there's not a single dead spot in the whole movie. The difference between the good guys (Red, Andy, Brooks, etc.) and the bad guys (the warden, the guards, the "sisters," etc.) is perhaps too starkly drawn, and perhaps Andy is a bit too heroic and determined beyond what might be realistic, and perhaps the "redemption" is a bit too miraculous in how beautifully it works out. But never mind. We love it.

All in all this is a great story vividly told that will leave you with a true sense of redemption in your soul. It is not a chick flick, and that is an understatement. It is a male bonding movie about friendship and the strength of character, about going up against what is wrong and unfair and coming out on top through pure true grit and a little luck.

Bottom line: one of the best ever made, currently rated #2 (behind The Godfather) at the IMDb. Don't miss it.

Rating:
Summary: Book or Movie?
Review: I haven't actually experienced the DVDs, so I can't comment on it specifically, but hear me out. Also, these two are *always* thought of together, so here goes: I've watched both The Shawshank Redemption and The Green Mile more than once before reading the books. If I *have to* pick one movie as my all-time favourite, it would be The Shawshank Redemption. The book is really brilliant, but I'm of the opinion that the movie did the unthinkable and actually improved on it. In my mind, the situation is reversed when it comes to The Green Mile. Although the movie is really brilliant, the book is better. Maybe the reason is that The Green Mile doesn't get the words and ideas as Stephen King uses them into the movie as exceptionally successful as The Shawshank Redemption. Still, both of them are worth every dollar and every minute (and I'm able to say this even after seeing Shawshank about 8 times and Green Mile more than 3)!

Rating:
Summary: A TRIUMPH OF THE HUMAN SPIRIT!
Review: Very few movies capture the triumph of the human spirit as memorably as The Shawshank Redemption. That is definetely a true statement! To tell you the truth, The Shawshank Redemption really moved me. It is a movie made to perfection (which more movies should be these days). Since there are so many reviews on this site, I won't go into details about the story, but rather express my love for this wonderful movie. Personally, I thing Morgan Freeman gives the best performance in this movie hands down! Tim Robbins was great too, but something about Morgan's performance really makes you understand and feel for him deeply. Frank Darabont (in his directorial debut) did a stunning job directing this film. I guess that I could go on and on about this movie but is seems useless since there are so many reviews on this site. But if anyone gets a chance to read this review (who hasn't seen the movie) please give it a chance! Hopefully you will feel the same way about it as I do. Simply a MASTERPIECE!

Rating:
Summary: Splendid!!
Review: A great work depecting how hope/determination can be the main driving force in a man's life when he is surrounded with not-so good situations and trying to cope with fears of others as well as his.

Tim Robbins & Morgan Freeman shine all thru..!!

Rarely anyone would disagree of this masterpiece as not worth a collectible.

Rating:
Summary: not nearly enough
Review: like listening to someone read poetry for two hours. i like stephen king, but this is beyond... morgan freeman is amazing. if you would never have believed you could love a movie about men in prison, watch "the shawshank redemption".

Rating:
Summary: Probably the best movie of the 90s
Review: One can never get tired of this movie. I have watched it multiple times and have always found something new in this movie that fascinates me. It has depth of character, hope, class, style of acting and screen play which transcends the ordinary. In my opinion, Morgan Freeman deserves the Oscar for this movie, though Tom Hanks did a good job in Forrest Gump. However, Forrest Gump does not have the following that this movie has. I was surprised that the AFI did not pick this as one of the 100 best movies.

Though the story line may appear predictable: innocent banker put in jail who escapes (has come in different ways in other movies), the way it is presented is wonderful. Special scenes that are breathtaking are the ones where Freeman's parole is accepted. His introspective style is also refreshing. The only caveat is the length of the movie and the violence. This is a worthwhile movie for anyone starting a collection.

Rating:
Summary: A Powerful Masterpiece (a must see)
Review: The Shawshank Redemption is the compelling low-key drama based on the short story Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption from the compillation of short stories entitled Different Seasons by Stephen King. Unlike most of Stephen King's stories, the Shawshank Redemption is the non-horror story of two cons in Maine's Shawshank State Prison, who despite seemingly major differences, grow to become friends. As the story slowly builds, we get to know both Red (Morgan Freeman) and Andy Dufresne (Tim Robbins) as humans rather than criminals, and in time we not only understand Andy's determination of spirit, we envy it. The movie's length shows the vitality of patience, and the slow time that is prison time, all the while using Red's point of view to keep the viewer in suspense. In the end it the last scene that will strike the viewer's heart, and the last words that will stay with them forever.

Rating:
Summary: The important things in life
Review: When things get so out of reality these days--for instance, people who'd rather watch reality TV shows rather than live it, we can easily forget whats really important--not who Justin Timberlake is dating or which CD wins best at the Grammy's, but what life is, what hope is, and what our purpose is. What would you do if twenty to forty years of your life was taken away?

Tim Robbins is Andy, a supposedly innocent man who is put into Jail for life. He is quiet, observant and intelligent, and befriends a couple of inmates after a while, including Red, (Morgan Freeman) who shows him the meaning of loyalty and friendship, whilst Andy shows Red the meaning of hope. I don't want to give too much away, but this movie will make you breathless, cheer and cry--one of the best films of all time.