An average film that does not bear repeated viewing

Rating: 6/10 (30 October 2000)

Ok, so this isn't exactly a bad film, but it's extremely hard to see why it holds the no.2 position in the top 250 films. The acting is fine, the twist is gratifying (if a little predictable) and some of the shots are fantastic. However, the film is let down by unrealistic dialogue, especially on the part of Freeman's character, who does not seem able to construct a sentence without using a string of metaphors and similes.
The prison warder is a one-dimensional villain with very little allure - we, the viewers, are not credited with much intelligence. Because he is a villain, it therefore follows that he must a be a Nazi, no? Cue references to book-burning etc. Furthermore, the portrayal of Tim Robbins' character as Christ is slightly offensive (check out the shot in which he is shown with his arms thrown up to heaven).
In true Hollywood style, there seems to be about five 'endings' - when we think that the excitement (or otherwise) is over, another sequence is tagged onto the end. Despite some fairly violent scenes, life inside Shawshank seems actually rather appealing - a library, plenty of time outside the cells. This, combined with the film's massive length, means that for my mind, The Shawshank Redemption merits only a 6/10.