THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION
A film review by Ben Hoffman
Copyright 1994 Ben Hoffman
Powerful, horrifying, funny and altogether wonderfully uplifting, the film has "OSCAR" written all over it. Based on a novella by Stephen King, with the screenplay written and directed by Frank Darabont in his first big screen movie, this film about hope and friendship will grab you where you live. If you thought King could only write horror stories, keep in mind that he is the author of Rob Reiner's STAND BY ME. And now comes this terrific story.
Andy Dufresne (Tim Robbins), is a mild-mannered banker, found guilty of having killed his wife and her lover, and sentenced to two consecutive life terms in Shawshank maximum security penitentiary in Maine. Warden Norton (Bob Gunton) is a Bible-quoting monster, as mean as they come. His head guard, Capt. Hadley (Clancy Brown), is a sadistic brute. The whole prison is a nightmare with many of the convicts having lost all sense of decency.
Into this hell hole comes Andy. Somehow he survives long enough to be befriended by Red, (Morgan Freeman), a "lifer" who wheels and deals in prison. He can get you anything you want ... for a price: Red has already been in for 20 years when Andy arrives.
When Andy makes known to the guards that he knows all about tax saving, and able to prepare their income tax returns, he is allowed a few more privileges. He shows Warden Norton how he can keep the bribes he receives from contractors, setting up a fake identity so the warden can deposit the money and it would be untraceable. When Andy wants to get books for the library, he is permitted by the warden to write to various people and agencies. The warden knows Andy will never get a response ... but he does.
While the film is as taut as one can get, little splashes of humor are dropped in to relieve the tension. But throughout the film, the thread of hope is woven; without hope, there is nothing. We see this despair in the trustee librarian (James Whitmore in a fine performance).
Look for Oscar nominations for Best Screenplay, Best Direction, Best Acting and Best Supporting Actors; the film has all of that. Robbins and Freeman are absolutely great! One perfect movie!
4 BIG Bytes 4 Bytes = Absolutely must see. 3 Bytes = Too good to be missed. 2 Bytes = So so. 1 Byte = Save your money.
Ben Hoffman
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