unoriginal prison movie

Rating: 1/10 (15 August 2002)

There are some things in this life we will never understand... How did the universe begin? What happens to our souls when we die? How did a movie as bland as The Shawshank Redemption become so overrated?
In the case of certain other movies, I can at least understand the reasons why they're overrated. But The Shawshank Redemption is so... average. And cliché-ridden. The film's moral is basically that hope is important, and there's nothing wrong with that in itself. Heck - I have no problem with simplicity. The problem is when you move past the simple and into the land of the simplistic. The movie treats its borrowed plot parts (Count of Monte Cristo, anyone?) and banal themes as though they were freshly minted nuggets of wisdom. (I wouldn't be complaining if it didn't pretend to be anything more than a pleasant diversion.) However, it is with its very last shot that the movie reveals its true condescending colours. If it had ended moments earlier instead, with that poetic shot of the sea, I would have had some respect for it (that's where the superior original story ends). But no, the director had to spell things out for his audience. Frank Darabont knows how to tell a story. He just doesn't know how to tell one with any originality or depth.
The movie is partially redeemed by three things. The majestic cinematography, the powerful score, and most of all, Morgan Freeman, one of the very best actors working today.
As for my rating, yes I'm one of those jerks who gives a movie a 1 just to lower it on the top 250. I think it's outrageous how highly it's ranked here. Even the folks who made it would think it's ridiculous to consider it one of the greatest films ever made.