There is no shortage of contenders for the title of greatest movie of all time and many film theorists would say that a decision like this should not be left up to the public, however it has been and the public has spoken and this article offers an expert review of the film. best IMDB movie of all time, Shawshank Redemption.
Shawshank Redemption is generally a movie that makes most of the top ten lists and I wonder why. Could it be the slow baritone beat of the narrative or the good ending where the system is defeated? The truth is, the movie is grotesquely historically inaccurate and incredible, even if in places it is relaxing and entertaining.
The brutality of the prison is superficial and the stark portrayal of institutionalization throughout is striking. Freeman gives the standard performance of him, whether he’s playing the president, god, or a criminal, he seems to be the acting equivalent of a Volvo, nothing special, but you know what you’re getting.
The film seems to have slipped through a gap somewhere and offers a numb depiction of a 1930s prison in a southern US state, one big happy family. Artistic license has been stretched and torn in this film, at points it feels like a prison adaptation of Its A Wonderful Life.
Director Frank Darabont is no stranger to romanticized prison stories, having also directed Green Mile and has a project in pre-production called Law Abiding Citizen, which is about a criminal mastermind operating out of his cell. The popularity of his films must have something to do with the gritty nature of the prison setting combined with the somewhat fairytale storytelling techniques that create a comfortable distance from harsh realities.
It deserves some credit, as it is a relatively entertaining, if extremely sentimental, film. The main flaw of the film is the lack of a journey that the main characters go on. Tim Robbins enters prison with a reserved confidence knowing his fate and does so with relatively little difficulty and Morgan Freeman exists solely to provide metronome commentary on Robbins. The film’s staunch thematic mainstays are all too frequent, and Robbins’ message that you can’t imprison a man’s spirit saturates the narrative.
All of this is nicely wrapped up in a truly conventional Hollywood ending where the good guys prevail, even though the character Freeman plays is a convicted murderer. There are some nice moments and this review may seem scathing to many, however it is based on the notion that The Shawshank Redemption is one of the greatest movies ever made.