Saturday 23 February 2013

FILM: The Shawshank Redemption (9/10)


Why did I watch it?
I was getting some grief at work after mentioning that I had never seen this film. So there.

What's it all about?

The film tells of the ordeal faced by one man in surviving a double life sentence in Shawshank prison. Tim Robbins stars as Andy Dufresne, a banker sent to prison for the murder of his wife and lover, and wrongly so according to Andy. Andy befriends fellow life-er Red (Morgan Freeman) as he is put to work by the warden on a financial scam, discovers evidence to clear his name and survives beatings, all the while holding out hope for freedom.  

Should you watch it?

I have been really struggling to put into words what makes The Shawshank Redemption such a truly great film. Tim Robbins and Morgan Freeman both give outstanding performances and using Freeman's calm narration throughout the film was an inspired move by director Frank Daramont. But that's not quite it, there's more to it. Robbins' character is so likeable (how can a guy this nice be guilty of double murder!), the story of his enduring hope and the impact it has on his inmates, who are resigned to their fates and actually content with life in the prison, lifts the story above the bleakness of it's subject matter.

Time to kill
Wonderful and uplifting.

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