Excellent Movie No Doubt. N.o 1 in the IMDb top 250? Not Really.

Rating: 9/10 (25 November 2013)

The Shawshank Redemption is another Stephen King book based movie made my Frank Darabont. I have said earlier that when Darabont makes a movie based on a Stephen King book, it simply results in magic on screen, and The Shawshank Redemption is almost a perfect example of that. Despite receiving very positive reviews from critics, developing a cult following, this film failed to well at the Box Office and barely managed to recover it's costs.
It's a shame really because this film deserves better, it is one of the best films of the 90s and an excellent film, with a very deep and engaging plot. Shawshank Redemption is a movie based on Prison Life and follows the life of two prisoners who become close friends. Darabont also made another movie based on Prison Life, The Green Mile, also based on a Stephen King book. However the former is a more realistic portrayal of prison life, it shows the harsh life of prisons even back in the 1940s-60s and the hostile environment, prison life is portrayed more accurately.
The Plot is simply fantastic, after first 5 minutes I was just hooked, and the plot is the main reason I kept on re-watching this movie, however I did find myself struggling on the 4th viewing because the movie really starts to drag a lot at several points, and if you have watched those slow progressing scenes before they will be hard to sit through again. The movie does not try to completely serious at times, it also has it's amusing moments and some nice heart warming moments, the ending was also well done, although a dialogue exchange between Red and Dufaine would have been nice.
However the plot is not really perfect, there are several unexplained things in the movie, how did Andy manage to frame the Warden or Hadley for Tommy's murder, and wouldn't revealing the Warden's illegal earnings also get Andy (who pretends to be Randall Stephens)in trouble. Also the supposed twist, that Andy didn't do it seemed unnecessary because it went nowhere, if Andy had in fact committed the murder and got his redemption, it would have added to the plot in my personal opinion. I am not going to criticize King's idea or the writers' ideas behind the story but I felt like the twist of of psychotic murderer was unnecessary. Also the films progresses years really fast, at least showing you the year on a blank screen would have cleared the confusion because even in my 4th viewing I was confused at several points, that which year it actually was, Freeman's narrating was helpful but it still lead to confusion about which year it actually is.
The acting is also good, Morgan Freeman steals the show with his performance Red "Ellis Redding", he also narrates many parts of the film and does it excellently. Bob Gunton and Clancy Brown act so well and really make you despise them. Even Adam Sandler plays the cool laid back prisoner very well. However Tim Robbin's is decent at best as Andy Dufaine, it is understandable he was a depressed character but his smirk, blank and confused facial expressions throughout the film are just tiresome, he really seems robotic, there are actors who could have done better honestly, nothing against Robbins, he can act well no doubt, he did good in Jacob's Ladder but here he doesn't stand out, not saying he is bad at all but his performance could have been better, as he was the lead it would have added more to the film.
The music is nice it fits the movie and many scenes very well. And the direction is also done very well, the portrayal of prison life is very accurate and realistic. The film's message about hope and friendship is also mesmerizing.
The Shawshank Redemption is an underrated gem, an excellent film with an in-depth that deserved much more acclaim and commercial success at its time of release. However it is not perfect, has it's share of mistakes and is simply not the greatest movie ever made as IMDb top 250 lists it.
Overall: 9/10