The Shawshank Redemption

One of the things that’s occasionally difficult about reviewing movies that are new to me, but old to virtually everybody else is that sometimes I’m aware of the reception a film has had before I sit down to write my review. I was aware even before I watched it that many people think The Shawshank Redemption should have won the Academy Award for Best Picture. With Shawshank, I’ve now seen four of the five nominees for that year (1995’s awards, 1994’s films) — the only one I’m missing now is Four Weddings and a Funeral — and I can certainly see the argument that The Shawshank Redemption should have won. I can definitely see the argument against Forrest Gump, even though I did like that film. I can understand the Academy picking it over Pulp Fiction (though that film ranks higher in my personal estimation, it’s more for enjoyment than for overall quality). I don’t think Forrest Gump is better than Shawshank, though, and I don’t think I’d put it above Quiz Show either.

So how am I to review a film that has been wildly critically acclaimed since its release, that has only become more and more popular over the years? How do I review a film that many feel was robbed of an Oscar? That Ted Turner loved so much he broadcast it weekly on his stations for years to make sure people saw it? How do I review a film that currently sits at #1 on IMDb’s rankings?

Well, I could be contrary and say The Shawshank Redemption sucks. It would certainly get my review some attention, at any rate.

Here come the stares of disapproval.

But I’m not one to write a controversial opinion unless I genuinely believe it, and in this case I don’t. The truth is, the film really is that good. OK, maybe not the best film of all time — I would pick some films over it, and I’m all too aware of how IMDb’s rankings, like everything else on the internet, tend to be skewed by various factors. But it’s good enough that I don’t feel that it’s outlandish that it’s in the discussion. It’s a funny thing. Steven King writes a lot of stories, and a lot of them have been adapted to film. But while he’s best known for horror stories, few of those reach any sort of critical acclaim; The Shining is the only one to be viewed as an all-around classic and not merely a genre classic. But The Shawshank Redemption and The Green Mile are both highly respected. Maybe King’s dramatic works are just better. Or maybe it’s down to Frank Darabont, who directed both pictures.

It has the right setup in the storyline for critical and popular acclaim. A message of hope set in a hopeless place. A man sent to prison for murdering his wife and her lover, protesting his innocence to no avail, but remaining optimistic during the whole of his long stay. Tim Robbins plays Andy Dufresne exceptionally well, giving him a soft casual nature that makes his optimism believable, while at the same time giving him a degree of emotional attachment that makes the audience wonder, at first, whether he really is innocent or guilty. Is he that calm because he’s the icy killer the prosecution claimed? Or is he in a state of emotional shock?

Morgan Freeman was nominated for an Oscar for his role as Ellis “Red” Redding. He didn’t win — the film goose-egged despite seven nominations — but it’s easy to see why he got the nomination. Red, the self-professed “only guilty man in Shawshank” — i.e., the only one willing to admit his guilt — is a balance of the easy-going individual and the hardened con. He has no malice in him, but he also has no hope. He is, by his own admission, if only to himself, institutionalized. Like the character Brooks Hatlen (James Whitmore), he’s spent so long in the prison it has become the only home he knows. He makes a show of trying for parole when he’s up for it, but he gives the same rote response until the events of the movie change the way he looks at himself and his past. It’s a testament to Freeman’s acting that we know Red did a terrible thing, but we still feel sympathy for him; he’s still “one of the good guys” in the movie’s depiction. Similarly, Whitmore’s portrayal of Hatlen is sad and sympathetic; we know that any man who spent 50 years in Shawshank had to have done something pretty heinous, but he just seems like a lost old man by the time we see him.

Adjusting to a world that’s passed you by isn’t easy if you’re not Kirk Douglas or Burt Lancaster.

The other inmates also generally appear sympathetic. Part of it is because the movie doesn’t focus overmuch on their crimes. But most of it is because of how everything is filtered through Red’s narration and how people react to Andy. Heywood (William Sadler) is a jerk in a lot of ways, but he comes to treat Andy as part of the group. Tommy (Gil Bellows) just wants to make something out of himself other than a thief, and comes to crave the approval of the intelligent Andy. Still, this movie doesn’t sugar-coat prison; it has its inmates that aren’t just criminal, but downright evil, those who have no remorse for what they’ve done, or what they’re about to do. Some of Andy’s travails during his time inside come in the form of Bogs (Mark Rolston), who proceeds to assert his dominance in some very vile ways.

Furthering Andy’s problems is that the law in this case is not made of good guys. Warden Norton (Bob Gunton) may say he believes in the Bible, but he seems largely unwilling to heed any of its suggestions. He’s cruel, petty, and corrupt, and is willing to do literally anything to get his way. His Captain, Hadley (Clancy Brown) is arguably even worse, beating a man to death on the first day for crying, without any compunction. Andy learns to work with the system, but it’s not a good system to be in.

But as dark as the subject matter can be, The Shawshank Redemption counters it with a light message. As the poster makes clear, hope is the recurring theme of the film, and it gives the audience plenty of opportunities to cheer for Andy’s victories along the way. And Andy’s final victory is pulled off skillfully, in a manner reminiscent of some of the best schemes in film.

Is The Shawshank Redemption the best movie ever made? I don’t think I’d say so; I’d still put Vertigo above it, personally, and maybe others if I cared to figure it out. Is it the best movie made in 1994? Out of what I’ve seen so far, yes, it is.

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