One of My Top 10 of All Time

Rating: 10/10 (2 March 2009)

This is without a doubt one of the finest films of the last 20 years. I think that if it had been released with more fanfare and didn't have such great competition that year, it might have won for Best Picture. This film has such a powerful presence that it has a life of it's own apart from the cast, score, cinematography, etc., all of which are deservedly great. This is one of those movies that you can switch to when you are channel surfing, and stop and watch the rest of it, no matter what part of the movie you are at. Perhaps The Godfather and Jaws are a couple of others that do that for me, and it never gets old, no matter how many times you watch it. One thing that disappoints me regarding this film is what has happened to the director, Frank Darabont. Unfortunately, he has never come close to achieving the greatness of Shawshank with his subsequent films. I thought The Green Mile was good, but it didn't hold a candle to Shawshank. I was also very disappointed in The Mist. I sincerely hope that he is able to recapture some of the magic of Shawshank Redemption in a future film, because he definitely does have the proved ability to do so.