Subtlety, and the Lack Thereof

Rating: 4/10 (8 November 2007)

Shawshank Redemption is a story of, well, Redemption. Just like any film from Quentin Tarantino, but with an extra dose of melodrama. Orchestral music to drive you to tears, overly dramatic dialog, and plot twists that come so far out of left field even M. Night Shylamalan would cringe. You just have a hard time seeing them, because the movie is relatively laid back.
Which is the best part of the film. It slows down whenever it needs to take its time. It's the story of two prisoners who bond over. One is a wrongfully accused man hoping to find a way out. One is a man who has given up all hope. And random acts of kindness help them earn their redemption.
See, it's about Redemption. It's in the title. No use thinking about the theme. Morgan Freeman is perfectly cast in this film, and gives one of the best performances in his life. But every one of his lines is not the line of a prisoner, but somebody who has been paid to pretend to be a prisoner.
The movie lacks any sense of reality, from the poorly supervised chain gang, to the subplot of the sinister warden, and even down to the fact that a man is allowed to keep a tool made for chipping away rocks in his cell.
The film would have worked as a stage play easily. Because we expect this detachment from reality. But this film likes to pretend this is reality. The film also likes to make conclusive statements, and then immediately retract them.
This movie has a heart. It spills out all over the screen while we watch the characters monologue, getting to the point of the movie over and over again. Long movies never bothered me. On the contrary, I think it's a shame four hour movies never get released these days. Still, when it's two and a half hours plus of monologues reiterating the same plot point, it's two and a half hours too much.