A terrific movie with layers of meaning...

Rating: 10/10 (5 April 2001)

I've seen this movie about a half-dozen times now, and it's slowly occurred to me that this is one of my two or three very favorite films. Each time I've seen it, I can appreciate different things about it, and the depth of the dialogue, and the meaning behind the events and characters takes on different symbolism and significance.
Having just read the story this was based on, I find it a rare example of where the film is better than the book. Not that the book isn't good, but there are some significant changes in the film that helped to make it such an endearing piece of work, and a more powerful experience than the original short story was. The development of the characters of the warden, and Brooks, for example, really fleshes out the story well.
The acting and direction is perfectly subtle and restrained, and though the feel may be a bit slow at times for some people, it gives a good sense of the feeling of time slowly dripping by in these people's lives.

What a shame that this was nominated for so many Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Actor (Morgan Freeman), and adapted screenplay, cinematography, music, etc., but didn't win anything. Granted, "Forrest Gump" is a great film, too, but it would have been nice if "Shawshank" had at least won something. Oh, well, that's not really important in the big picture, I suppose. The fact that this film is ranked #2 of all time here is very telling, and I'm sure it will be appreciated for a very long time to come... I know that every time it comes on TNT, I have to watch it again!