For those of you who have never flipped to TNT at an indiscriminate time, The Shawshank Redemption, an adaptation of a Stephen King novella, tells the story of Andy Dufresne (Tim Robbins), a timid Maine banker unjustly convicted of slaying his wife and her lover, sent to do hard time under a sadistic warden (Bob Gunton). Eventually gaining his footing, Andy befriends a fellow lifer (Morgan Freeman), earns the respect of the guards and his fellow inmates, and gradually prompts a miraculous reversal of fortune through hard work and an unyielding clinging to the idea of hope. Because of how special it was to me as a kid, it would be unfair to knock Frank Darabont's cherished film, even though it largely plays like self-parody when viewed today, especially during Freeman's pious narration. It's a well-made, extremely positive picture, containing many twists and turns that play like gangbusters the first several times you see the picture, which is about the greatest accomplishment a movie can achieve, but I also think the droves of people citing this as the best movie ever made really need to see more movies.
Entertainment Magazine
For those of you who have never flipped to TNT at an indiscriminate time, The Shawshank Redemption, an adaptation of a Stephen King novella, tells the story of Andy Dufresne (Tim Robbins), a timid Maine banker unjustly convicted of slaying his wife and her lover, sent to do hard time under a sadistic warden (Bob Gunton). Eventually gaining his footing, Andy befriends a fellow lifer (Morgan Freeman), earns the respect of the guards and his fellow inmates, and gradually prompts a miraculous reversal of fortune through hard work and an unyielding clinging to the idea of hope. Because of how special it was to me as a kid, it would be unfair to knock Frank Darabont's cherished film, even though it largely plays like self-parody when viewed today, especially during Freeman's pious narration. It's a well-made, extremely positive picture, containing many twists and turns that play like gangbusters the first several times you see the picture, which is about the greatest accomplishment a movie can achieve, but I also think the droves of people citing this as the best movie ever made really need to see more movies.
