The Shawshank Redemption Is An Excellent Film

Rating: 9/10 (22 June 2009)

The Shawshank Redemption is an excellent film from director Frank Darabont whose admirable in making this story based on a book by Stephen King. Tim Robbins gives a great performance as Andy Dufresne and Morgan Freeman is equally impressive as Ellis Boyd "Red" Redding two imprisoned men looking for redemption who bond after many years while dealing with not only the abusive corrupt prison guards but the violent fellow prisoners amongst them as well. Robbins and Freeman had good chemistry together which made their growing friendship that much more believable on the screen. The rest of the cast including Bob Gunton, Clancy Brown, William Sadler, Gil Bellows, and James Whitmore are effective as the supporting characters in their limited screen time. The pacing was a little slow at times and the running time of 142 minutes made the film feel a bit long but the rest made up for it's few flaws. Overall despite it's flaws The Shawshank Redemption is definitely a must see a movie that can't be missed. It has a compelling story, character development, drama, some humor, and exceptional performances by the cast (especially Robbins and Freeman) who make this one of the best books by Stephen King that was made into a movie. Well done. Much better than expected.