Escape from Shawshank

Rating: 6/10 (18 December 2003)

It is the most basic of all principles of film-making: A story of redemption. This time the story is set inside Shawshank Prison, where successful banker Andy Dufresne (Tim Robbins) is sent to during the 40s, after being falsely accused of murdering his wife and her lover. The jail veteran, Red (Morgan Freeman), sees Andy being forced through the front gates of the jail on his first day of arrival and sees him as a weakling. Red even makes a bet with the fellow inmates that he won't last. He's wrong.
Andy does last, and becomes an inspiration to all of those behind bars. The warden of the jail, Samuel Norton (Bob Gunton), is intent on bringing down Andy and his defiant nature, as all villains always are.
That is the prevailing message, I suppose. The redemption comes two-fold -- Andy is given time to reflect upon his life in Shawshank, and Red (who is obviously deeply moved by Andy's influence) learns a thing or two, going through a cleansing process. We see the gradual change, too -- first Red is the cynical veteran, then the curious insider, then the close friend, then the surprised object of redemption. As strange a title it may be, "The Shawshank Redemption" is a worthy one.
At the end of the day, "Shawshank" is a good film - but far from a perfect one. I'm not interested in responding to its Top 250 placement with my review (as countless others have done), but the fact that it has been voted into the number one slot is a reflection of how universal its appeal is: it's about as likable and mass-marketed as possible. There's nothing here to really offend or provoke and the film doesn't take enough changes to potentially polarize audiences -- it plays it safe, and in my opinion, a bit too safe. The film's message of hope and redemption is way too heavy-handed, the outcome being a movie that is very simple and easy to digest -- but not really very interesting beyond its surface. It speaks volumes that so many people who have gone through depression often reference this as one of the aids they used for comfort -- it's a movie that pats people on the back and gives them hope and inspiration.
That's a great message, but if you provide it without any challenge to the audience -- and instead just spoon feed it -- well, for me, anyway, it doesn't leave much of an impact. It's just a well-made but manipulative and self-important film.