Sentimental yet strongly moving story of injustice, optimism, retribution

Rating: Null/10 (12 June 2002)

`Fried Green Tomatoes' came to mind when I first saw The Shawshank Redemption. I know they're two entirely different movies, but they had the same set-up; the narration, the way happy things happened to the supporting characters based on the effort of one/some of them. Both movies also touch on unfairness, but perhaps it's the point of view and nature of friendship which make them so similar.
The whole cast was absolutely fantastic. Morgan Freeman didn't even look like he was acting; `Red' was that real. Tim Robbins, often more renowned for droll characters is top-rate as the shady yet generous Andy; Clancy Brown was detestable as the foul-mouthed murderous guard, James Whitmore a hoot as the bird man guy, and Bob Gunton, disgusting and sordid as the warden  not your regular scheming bad guy  this guy was bad with a capital `b'.
An excellent movie, and somehow excellent enough for people to put it in the Top 5 spot here. It wasn't without its flaws, but when ordered with other movies that were nominated in 1994 for best picture (and on the top 250), `Shawshank' would be the best of them.