Timeless

Rating: 10/10 (9 September 2001)

The Shawshank Redemption is one of those films of which people used to say "they don't make 'em like that anymore". Well, Frank Darabont had the courage to do it and the world owes him a debt of gratitude. With the advent of the 90s there was the feeling that Hollywood, and Hollywood audiences, could never again accept such a thoughtful, emotional and "feelgood" movie as Shawshank. It shouldn't have been made in this era but thank God it was. Stick it in black and white and it could quite easily have come right out of the 50s along with It's A Wondeful Life. Most 90s films to which the critics automatically responded with the word "classic", Pulp Fiction, American Beauty, Fight Club, may or may not endure "the test of time" but there's no such doubts about The Shawshank Redemption. It is a true classic.