Good movie, but best of all time? Hardly . . .

Rating: 7/10 (12 April 1999)

I was a little surprised at first to see this film ranked #1 out of all possible candidates in the IMDB user ratings. When I thought about it, though, it made more sense--this is a "Rocky"-type feel-good movie that doesn't really make you think and reinforces what we would all like to believe about human nature. Don't get me wrong--it's a fine film (I gave it a solid 7 out of 10), it's just not, in my view, up there with _Casablanca_ and _The Graduate_.
I guess the main problem I have with _Shawshank_ is the nature of the script and characters. Think about it: is there a single person in the film who isn't a one-dimensional cardboard cut-out with very simple motivations, or a Hollywood cliche or stereotype? We have (in no particular order), a corrupt, bigoted prison warden (who is a religious hypocrite for good measure), a brutal prison guard, a man who is wrongly accused of murder, an old convict who knows all the ropes and can't live on the outside, and a convict who is murdered by the brutal guards. Now where have we seen this stuff before? Only in a few dozen movies made from the 20s to the 90s. There's really nothing new here. Probably this comes from the fact that the story is from Stephen King, who doesn't really do well with complex characters (a problem I noted as far back as _Carrie_).
If you want to see a good prison picture, try _Cool Hand Luke_ (from which this movie borrows considerably). If you want an escape picture, see either _The Great Escape_ or _Papillon_, both with Steve McQueen. Or if, by some chance, you want a crime and punishment movie that really makes you think, go with the late great Stanley Kubrick's _A Clockwork Orange_.
I couldn't stop thinking about the warden: doesn't he have a family? How did they feel? What are they going to do now? I realize the story is inside the prison, but I wish the movie had made better use of its characters than simply as simple-minded symbols of EVIL or VIRTUE.
I'm not Mr. Cranky, I did enjoy the movie, but I enjoyed it the same way I do an Italian dinner at the Olive Garden--a well-constructed genre product with nothing special to commend it.