Capra-esqe Prison Yarn A Huge Cult Hit

Rating: 10/10 (12 September 2005)

A Prison Movie. An all-male cast (except for Rita Hayworth). Violence. A title guaranteed to sprain your jaw. When Shawshank hit theatres in 1994, odds were decidedly against it becoming a huge success. It would be nice to think that an ultimately upbeat, earnest, modernist take on the films of Frank Capra would immediately find a sympathetic and appreciative audience. But that would be a fairy tale, and life, like prison, is no fairy tale.
The film has the cheek to ask Which is worse, being a murderer, or being a lousy husband? Certainly the audience must ask itself this of the main character, Andy, played by Tim Robbins, who is sent to Shawshank Prison in 1947 for the murder of his wife and her lover. Introverted, bookish, proud, his fate is uncertain until he attracts the attention of the prison "finder" Red, played by Morgan Freeman. Together the two men must find emotional healing, spiritual redemption, and hope, if they are to survive.
Adroit and expertly manipulative, the film's pace is dictated by the deathless narration of Freeman, who could hold an audience spellbound while reciting phone book listings; or, suspend utter disbelief at a patently preposterous storyline. Nor are characterizations any less preposterous, from the sociopathic Warden, to the sadistic Head Guard, to the grandfatherly Librarian, to the manic-youthful Young Punk. But if the characters seem too archetypal to be true, it is a necessary, and tolerable evil in this fairy-tale set in a prison.
As I said, life is no fairy-tale, and prison movies rarely get to top-ten status. But sometimes some good does prevail, and redemption often stands in wait for those who dare reach out to it. As a first-run cinematic release Shawshank was not a great success. But as a commercial video, the film has achieved high status, and is voted year after year as a top consumer favorite. Cinematically near-perfect, visually breathtaking, Shawshank is a state-of-the-art example of the power of film to tell stories, and is rightly considered a must-see by most film reviewers.