Greatest movie never to win the oscar.

Rating: 10/10 (16 April 2001)

It's as simple as that and 2 things stopped it from achieving that honour. The enormous nostalgia eventual winner Forest Gump had most wrapped up in and more importantly the unappealing first impression this movie gave when it was released.
The worst assumption one could make of The Shawshank Redemption is to think it's a depressing prison movie. Admittedly that's exactly what I thought when I first saw the preview scene of Morgan Freeman telling Tim Robbins that "hope is a dangerous thing.." I remember thinking OK my life really isn't like being in prison, but do I wanna watch something that's gonna bring the mood down a notch. Big mistake at the time, but just like the title, I had my own redemption of sorts when I caught it on video.
The performances of Robbins & Freeman should have won the best & supporting actor oscars and the work of the rest of the cast makes you wish they had an ensemble category. To late for "shoulds" I know, but in years to come if this title doesn't cement itself into the all time top 5 I'll be surprised.
Knowing millions have now seen it would make it easy to reveal more of the movie to give it a better description for those who haven't, but that's exactly what would ruin it for them. As cliched as it sounds, the whole phrase of "just give it a chance and watch it" has probably never been more appropriate for a movie like this one.