The Shawshank Redemption 1994
I remember really liking this movie when I saw it despite all of the terrible things that happen to Tim Robbins' character (and others). Watching again many years later there are still some great things and maybe some not so great. One thing is there is a lot of voiceover, which is rarely good, though if you have to have it, at least it is by Morgan Freeman. It is a nice performance by Freeman, but not a lot of meat since it is mostly about Tim Robbins' character. Robbins plays his part well despite being a quiet person who is hard to know. His resolve in the face of adversity is amazing. However there are parts of the story I wasn’t crazy about either. Going to the prison warden with some new found evidence that could exhonerate him is just kind of dumb and a little bit of a clumsy plot device. The ending wraps everything up nicely, but maybe a little too nicely. Still, with what Robbins' character has gone through, it is a nice turn, though not without some more dark violence. Though the movie is long, it still takes a lot of shortcuts by using voiceover. I don’t know that I see a lot of fat that could be cut since almost everything that happens is important later on, but it probably spends a little too much time on some things.
Written: 07 Aug 2021
Owned on: UHD, Blu-ray, DVD, Digital