Good but IMO not even close to some of the best movies

Rating: 8/10 (14 February 2016)

Nobody can deny that The Shawshank Redemption is a good, maybe even great movie. But I think it's overrated. I understand it might touch many peoples feelings, but the movie feels like it is just too clearly designed to evoke those feelings. It is a movie that takes ones hand and tells the viewer a clearly defined, well structured story that follows all the standard story beats one would expect from a prison drama. The fact that this movie has gotten so much praise just goes to show that Hollywood got all the rules of filmmaking figured out. This movie followed those rules to the letter and got tremendous success because of that. In short, the movie succeeds in what it aimed to do. Evoke symphaty where symphaty's due and evoke anger where anger is due. It helps that its very well made and edited.
My gripe with this film is that it didn't do anything new. There is no message left open for interpretation, there is no real meaning behind the cinematography and the music and voice over are quite generic (I love Freeman's voice but it's overdone in this film). When I watch a film I want the story to be shown, not told.