Inspiration can come where you least expect it

Rating: 8/10 (8 August 2010)

You go into a film hoping to be entertained. That's the least you can expect. If a film manages not only to entertain but also to inspire then you've really got something. Such is the case with The Shawshank Redemption. Few movies are as inspiring and uplifting as this tale of...an innocent man rotting away in prison? Well that doesn't sound particularly inspiring. Sounds depressing even. But this movie will surprise you. At times along the way it is rather bleak, things seem hopeless. But the movie's hero never gives up hope. He is not content to sit in prison and rot. Get busy living or get busy dying. Is there ever really any doubt which of those options Andy Dufresne will choose?
In 1947 Andy, a banker on the outside, is sent to Shawshank State Penitentiary for life after being wrongly convicted of murdering his wife and her lover. He befriends a prisoner named Red, a man popular amongst his fellow inmates because Red is the man who can get things. Most of the men want the typical prison contraband. Cigarettes are the big item. Andy's different. He wants a tiny little rock hammer to maintain his rock collection. And later he asks for a Rita Hayworth poster. As the years go by Rita becomes Marilyn, Marilyn becomes Raquel. It's as good a way as any to mark the passage of time. Time marches on. The world moves on. But the men of Shawshank are left behind. That would be hard enough to take even if you were stone-cold guilty, a menace to society. For an innocent man like Andy Dufresne? You wonder how he cannot be utterly defeated by life. Yet somehow he maintains a sense of calm and a great inner strength. There's something about this guy.
What exactly is it about Andy Dufresne? Hard to say because the story is never really told through his eyes but rather through those of his friend Red. We come to know Andy only to the extent that Red does. And for this story that setup really works. Tim Robbins is excellent in the role of Andy, the film's hero figure, but Morgan Freeman has perhaps the more challenging job in playing Red. Freeman's character serves as the audience's eyes and ears. And he also serves as the movie's voice. Extensive use of voice-over narration in films can be an iffy proposition, often proving more distracting than helpful. But Freeman's voice, Red's voice really, narrates this story beautifully. Playing off one another wonderfully Robbins and Freeman make a terrific team. This is a movie content to let its two main characters just sit around and talk. True, there's not much else to do inside those prison walls. But some of the shared moments between Andy and Red are as poignant as any you'll see in any film and the two actors deserve their due credit for making it so.
You wouldn't go so far as to call it slow but the movie certainly proceeds at a deliberate pace. This is a story which takes its time in letting you know where it is ultimately headed. It's essentially Andy's story, as told by Red. But there is room for some other characters to carve out their place as well. Most touching is the story of elderly prisoner Brooks, as played beautifully by James Whitmore. His little story within the story definitely tugs on the heartstrings. Of course for any movie to truly succeed there has to be some conflict and for that we have guard Byron Hadley and warden Samuel Norton. At least Hadley is upfront in his evilness. Norton's one of film history's biggest hypocrites, walking around the prison spouting Bible verses all the while being engaged in all manner of unseemly activities. This is a man who needs a comeuppance. But in the world of Shawshank it is Norton who has all the power. This is a story seemingly destined for a very unhappy ending. The righteous man does not seem at all likely to prevail. But, slowly but surely, the movie continues to build towards something. What that something will be you can't quite be sure. But when the moment comes where all is revealed the film's ultimate triumph is secured. For you have seen not only an entertaining and utterly compelling story. You've seen something which can't help but make you feel better about life in general. This is a movie to see when you need to have a little of your faith in humanity restored. It may not be, as it is in some places proclaimed to be, the best movie ever made. But is an undeniably excellent movie which has rightfully become rather beloved by most everyone who sees it.