Quite good, really

Rating: 6/10 (17 October 2003)

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I won't argue that this is a really good film. It is. But I've always felt it's been built up a bit too much. It's well-structured, well-paced, and Morgan Freeman gives a brilliant performance, along with all of his co-stars. But it's still something of a modern fairy tale. We never doubt that things will turn out all right in the end for Andy and Red, or that Norton will get his comeuppance. This, combined with a tendency to get cloying, particularly with the opera record and the spunky kid, effectively knocks it out of the running as one of the all-time greats.
All this aside, however, it's impact can't be denied either. Frank Darabont may have let his sentimentality go raging out of control on The Green Mile next, but he just enough restraint here to move us almost to tears. And this same emotional black-and-white treatment allows plot points that might have been laughed of in a more cynical film to feel perfectly satisfying. Tell me you didn't raise a fist in triumph when Norton blew his brains out. And regarding sentiment, it certainly wasn't 1994's worst offender. Matching Forrest Gump for saccharine value would tax even Darabont's skills.