The Shawshank Redemption (Two-Disc Special Edition) Review

Remember, Red, hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies. - Andy Dufresne

As incredible as it seems, nearly 15 years have passed since writer-director Frank Darabont's The Shawshank Redemption first premiered in theaters - and tanked badly at the box office.  (According to the Internet Movie Database, it opened in 33 theaters on Sept. 23, 1994 and only made $737,000.00 in its opening weekend, a disastrous "take" for a film which cost $25,000,000 to make.)

Even so, in 2008, Darabont's adaptation of Stephen King's novella Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption is now considered a beloved classic that stands beside such films as Casablanca, Citizen Kane, and Star Wars as one of the best movies of all time.

At first glance, this set-in-a-prison movie doesn't seem like the most appealing of things to watch for entertainment.  It takes place mostly in one place (Shawshank State Prison in Maine).  It's very dependent on dialogue. It doesn't feature fancy camera work.  It's a Stephen King film without the expected "Stephen King" shtick of horror and the supernatural.

And in the beginning, despite good reviews - Roger Ebert said it  "is deeper than most films; about continuity in a lifetime, based on friendship and hope" - The Shawshank Redemption failed to catch on with moviegoers and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Science, winning none of the seven Academy Awards it was nominated for in 1995.

Yet, just as what happened with Rob Reiner's The Princess Bride, Darabont's awe-inspring directorial debut became a classic after its release on home video and many airings on the Ted Turner-owned TNT cable network.

I believe in two things: discipline and the Bible. Here you'll receive both. Put your trust in the Lord; your ass belongs to me. Welcome to Shawshank. - Warden Norton

Starring Tim Robbins, Morgan Freeman, Bob Gunton, William Sadler, Jeffrey DeMunn, and James Whitmore (among others), The Shawshank Redemption takes place over a 21-year span of time, starting in 1946 when a banker named Andy Dufresne (Robbins) is arrested, tried and convicted for the murder of his wife and her golf-pro lover. 

Of course, since Darabont and King were both inspired by some of the "innocent man in prison" films made in the 1930s and '40s, we all know that Andy isn't guilty, but his "cold fish" demeanor and some circumstantial "evidence" helps convince a jury that he is, so he is sentenced to serve two consecutive life sentences in Shawshank State Prison.

When the film's narrator Ellis Boyd "Red" Redding (Freeman) first sees Andy arrive, he dismisses the tall-but-quiet ex-banker as a guy who won't last long.  Indeed, he wagers some of his cigarettes - a precious commodity in a 1940s-era prison - that Andy won't even make it through his first night at Shawshank. 

Red loses the bet, but as he gets to know Andy, he begins to respect the quiet yet resilient guy who keeps to himself, bravely resists a gang of prisoners known as the sisters, and asks him to acquire seemingly harmless things to help make his prison time a bit bearable - a Rita Hayworth poster and a rock hammer here, a bunch of sculptable rocks there.  Eventually, the two become friends and help each other survive the long interminable stretches of incarceration.

This being a Stephen King tale, there is a monster in The Shawshank Redemption, but it is not a "typical" mythical creature like the vampire from 'Salem's Lot or the haunted car from Christine.  In the guise of the outwardly devout but inwardly corrupt Warden Samuel Norton (Gunton), the dark nature of humanity is revealed when he uses his authority to keep Andy in prison because the former banker knows too much about Norton's various "private enterprises" - kickbacks and other illegal dealings that the state government knows nothing about.

There's a whole lot more of plot and many characters whose lives are affected by Andy's stay in Shawshank, but if you haven't seen the film yet (hardly likely, but it's possible), I'll leave it for you to discover on your own.

My Viewpoint: Although I had seen bits and pieces of The Shawshank Redemption on TNT and knew the story well from when I read it in King's Different Seasons, only recently did I see the whole film after I used a $25 gift certificate from Amazon to buy it and a couple of other bargain-priced DVDs. I'd liked what I had read back in the early 1980s and was intrigued by the sequences I'd seen on cable, but I was left breathless by the sheer power of Darabont's remarkably faithful adaptation of King's novella.

What makes this movie work when by all rights it shouldn't? Well, to begin with, the screenplay is remarkably good, keeping most of the flavor of King's writing and storytelling techniques intact while jiggering with some of the details to make Shawshank more cinematic.  As all adapters do, Darabont adds a few touches and plot points of his own. yet stays essentially true to King's themes and characterizations.

Then, of course, there's the acting.  As the narrator and one of the two leads, Morgan Freeman gives viewers a bravura performance that erases all traces of his character's literary origins as a white, red-haired Irish con/scrounger. 

Co-starring as the always-quiet, sometimes mysterious Andy Dufresne, Tim Robbins also acquits himself in a very impressive manner.  I like the way that Robbins shows that the guy is always observing things and never gives in to despair even in the least hopefull of places.

The rest of the cast includes Gil Bellows, James Whitmore, William Sadler (who, along with Jeffrey DeMunn, appears in Stephen King's The Mist and The Green Mile), Clancy Brown, Mark Rolston, and Jude Cicolella (of 24 fame).  Some of these appear only briefly, but others have significant roles. Regardless, they all fit seamlessly into their respective roles and pull you into this story of friendship, survival, and, yes, redemption.