Unorginal Prison Fairytale my hairy foot!

Rating: 10/10 (11 September 2002)

***SPOILERS*** ***SPOILERS*** Imagine me as an old man with a beard sitting on the stoep (porch) waving my cane at people passing by.
"How dare you call the Shawshank Redemption an unorginal prison fairytale! It is not supposed to be a run of the mill prison movie. Its not supposed to be The Birdman of Alcatraz! It's not supposed to be MIDNIGHT EXPRESS! It's not even supposed to be Stir Crazy, you wippersnappers! The prison is only the backdrop! It's about overcoming the odds when you are at your rope's end. This is a movie about hope and finding it in the darkest and dreariest of places.
"This movie could easily have been set in Nazi Germany in opressed Germany, in a concentration camp, in a 19th century work house! It's about breaking free from things that oppress us needlessly! (Spoiler starts here) Andy is the only person in prison that doesn't belong there! If he had done something bad he would have accepted it, but he didn't, so he tunnels through a wall to freedom. (Spoiler ends here).
"Sentimentalism can be bad in a movie if handled incorrectly, but Darabont uses it better than other Capra impersonators out there (even beating the Coens with their Hudsucker Proxy). And there is nothing wrong with sentimentality in The Shawshank Redemption. And I can't see what cliches you are talking about. Just because good things happen doesn't mean they cliches.
"This is a meditative movie. It's also has a lot of little things to enjoy for repeat viewing. So get off your high-horse and enjoy this movie.
"This is all I have to say."
Get back onto his chair and blows bubbles out of his pipe.