A spectacular debut unfortunately followed by a lackluster sophomore effort

Rating: 10/10 (12 July 2000)

After being slightly dissappointed by "The Green Mile", I decided to check out Frank Darabont's first adaptation of a Steven King prison story once again. "The Shawshank Redemption" remained as much of an enjoyably original modern classic after this second viewing. In this second viewing, I appreciated even more the sparklingly sharp dialogue between Morgan Freeman and Tim Robbins. Like in "Green Mile", Darabont set the scene of a depression-era prison extremely well. The director was also well-served to use King's vivid character descriptions to make the supporting characters as memorable as the leads. The result was an instant, uplifting classic about hope brought to the most hopeless locations.