Review: The Shawshank Redemption (1994)

The Shawshank Redemption soars. It's a timeless cinematic achievement that transcends its dark setting with surprising grace and beauty.

Based on Steven King's 1982 novella Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption, the film follows Andy Dufresne (Tim Robbins), a young banker accused of killing his adulterous wife and her lover. After being found guilty, he's sentenced to two life terms at Maine's Shawshank Prison.

Andy is slow to make friends when he arrives at Shawshank in 1947. In a crowd of rowdy prisoners, his quiet intellectualism sticks out. Eventually, he bonds with Ellis "Red" Redding (Morgan Freeman), a fellow lifer. Behind the cold and cruel bars of Shawshank, their blossoming friendship becomes a source of solace.

This story, which takes place over 20 years, is smartly paced by screenwriter-director Frank Darabont. It unfolds deliberately. The inmates are stuck with the same dull routine every day, and audiences witness it all.

At 142 minutes, The Shawshank Redemption runs the risk of becoming boring. But it doesn't. The slowness of the movie lets viewers feel the oppressive numbing effect of prison life on the characters, who are made relatable through Andy and Red's displays of humanity.

Why does this matter? Because the film needs audience empathy. This is a movie about hope. If no one cared about the main character -- whose fate depends on having hope -- the message would be lost.

Luckily, it's not. The Shawshank Redemption is stirring. It's emotional without being hokey or trite. Darabont's honest, subtle script and directions saves the dramatics. This is not a film that constantly throws big, emphatic speeches at its audience, or tries to woo people with endless camera tricks.

And thank goodness for that. Those things would be out of place and obvious in a film like this, whose understated style serves it well.

What audiences get instead is a carefully planned movie that flows like a steady river. Aside from occasional rapids, the waters are calm, making the glorious, rapturous waterfall at the end all the more exciting and rewarding.

Of course, none of this would matter without the amazing production values and magnetic performances that fill the screen.

This is not a pretty film, nor should it be. Prison is often a drab, dreary place, and Shawshank is no exception. Audiences are treated to sets and costumes that come in a variety of colors: gray, brown, and subdued blue.

What is more appealing is the gorgeous score by Thomas Newman. The music powerfully evokes both hope and despair. It's haunting.

At the heart of the movie are its actors. There is not a single bad performance in The Shawshank Redemption. And there are several great ones. Bob Gunton and Clancy Brown are appropriately corrupt and sadistic as Warden Norton and Captain Hadley, respectively. And James Whitmore is utterly heartbreaking as an institutionalized convict named Brooks.

But most noteworthy are Robbins and Freeman. They have terrific chemistry. Apart, they craft realistic portraits of decent men struggling to reconcile the desire to hope with the reality of their situations.

Despite all the brutality and sorrow it shows, The Shawshank Redemption is inspirational. A triumph, and one of the most uplifting films ever made.