Not quite great, but still compelling

Rating: 8/10 (2 May 2007)

Let me start by praising 'The Shawshank Redemption' as is it's due. This is a gripping, manipulative, emotional prison drama with a tricksy plot based on a Stephen King story: as often with King, it's implausible, but director Frank Darabont handles its development so well that it seems believable as you watch it. Praise given, I now need to make clear that I do not consider this one of the best movies of all time, in spite of the ecstatic opinions of IMDb users (and others). First of all, the film paints a somewhat romantic picture of prison life. This may seem an odd thing to say (the life of the convicts is terrible), but the characters divide neatly into good guys and bad ones, the good ones share a sense of community but what's lacking is the idea that the victims of the prison world were the violators of the free one; all the murderers seem far too cuddly to convince. The only possible exception is the lead character, whose almost inhuman resolve makes it seem highly possible that (in spite of his protests to the contrary) he is justly imprisoned; when this ambiguity is resolved half-way through, the film loses something, and he becomes more myth than man. The real problem with the main twist (and the uplifting message it imparts) is not its improbability, but that it softens the world-view of the movie too much. The other main problem is that the film is too long: a braver director might have cut it dead at the crux, but Darabont insists of tying up every loose end, and wringing out every last drop of emotion in the process. It's still a very smart piece of entertainment; but its claims to greatness lie mainly in being exactly what its audience want to watch, rather than in supreme artistic merit.