AAA Review - Shawshank Redemption (1994) - Number 1 movie on IMDB

The Shawshank Redemption is the top rated movie on multiple movie review sites, for good reasons. The 1994 film wasn't a box office success during its release, as audiences were trending towards actions movies during that time, and Shawshank Redemption had to compete with several big names like Forrest Gump (with Tom Hanks), Pulp Fiction (with John Travolta). It was only after numerous nominations at the Academy Awards when it was re-released for more screening time. The film had since gone on to achieve a legendary status.

Source: imdb.org

Quick Plot

Andy Dufresne (Tim Robbins) was convicted of murdering his wife, which he claimed innocent, and sent to life imprisonment at the Shawshank State Prison. Soon after enteriing prison, he became close to a friend, Red (played with Morgan Freeman), a resourceful man who is capable of smuggling all kinds of items into the prison. Andy asked for a small hammer, which he uses for stone sculpting, and a big poster of a movie star.

The former banker with extensive tax knowledge, soon befriend every prison guards by providing valuable advice to help them with money laundering. Regarded as a valued inmate, Andy was given much freedom in the prison. He is in charged of managing financial matters for even the prison warden.

“The funny thing is, on the outside I was an honest man. Straight as an arrow. I had to come to prison to be a crook.” — Andy Dufresne

As the years gone by, Andy had failed multiple times in trying to appeal his sentence. Just when all hopes were gone, a new inmate named Tommy Williams revealed to Andy that he may have information on his murder case. Tommy's former cellmate may be the actual murderer of Andy's wife. When Andy brought the case to warden Samuel Norton, he was simply brushed away and sent to solitary confinement. But Andy is very valuable to Norton, he could not afford to lose the former banker. He needed to eliminate every possibility of Andy's chance of getting a hearing, and he murdered Tommy.

It was 19 years since Andy's imprisonment. And one morning, he disappeared from his cell. He had managed to escape the prison, by digging through the cell walls with the small hammer he acquired from Red 19 years ago.

Fast forward to a few years later and Red was released from Prison after serving 40 years. He had difficulty coping with freedom life and was contemplating suicide when he remembered Andy's words. Andy had left clue for him on his whereabouts. Red found and reunited with Andy, who had made off with millions of dollars from the prison warden.

Review

The Shawshank Redemption is not an action movie, it did not have famous actors and the storyline is slow and seem uninteresting for at least the first 2 hours. But audiences were left with awe when they saw the hole behind the poster in Andy's cell. Unfortunately for me, I already knew the plot before I watched the movie.

I particularly love Red's narration throughout the show. Shawshank Redemption protagonist might be Andy Dufresne, but the entire movie had Red narrating in the background. Lots of screentime were given to Red too, especially after his release and portrayed how an old man who had spent his entire life in prison had to cope with the outside world. Morgan Freeman, as usual, gave a really good performance. He was also nominated for Best Actor at the Academy, instead of Tim Robbins.

The Shawshank Redemption is a movie that you need to watch more than once. And every time, you can see something new. It is a shame that it was released in 1994, the same year as Forrest Gump, or it would definitely gets the nod for Best Picture.

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• Movie URL: https://www.themoviedb.org/movie/278-the-shawshank-redemption

• Critic: AAA

• 영화 URL: https://www.themoviedb.org/movie/278-the-shawshank-redemption

• 별점: AAA