The Shawshank Redemption

“Get busy livin’ or get busy dyin’. That’s Goddamn right.”

- Morgan Freeman, The Shawshank Redemption.

The above is one of the most iconic movie quotes in film history from one of the (if not the, arguably of course) most iconic movies of all time. The Shawshank Redemption was nominated for 7 Academy Awards in March of 1995, and it walked out with none. It was up against Forrest Gump in almost every category in which it was nominated. In fairness, there was no beating Tom Hanks as Forrest Gump, so sorry Morgan. You’ll just have to wait another 10 years for Million Dollar Baby to come along before they hand you the famous statue.

Forrest Gump is a great movie. That being said, I do not believe it’s a better movie than the Shawshank Redemption. A friend of mine and I have had this conversation many times about the “better-produced” movie over the better all around movie in terms of Academy Awards. Now, the Academy is obviously not the end all, be all of great cinema. In fact, it’s far from it. The Academy is responsible for numerous instances of highway robbery over the past 10 years. Come on, Michael Caine for The Cider House Rules over Haley Joel Osment in the Sixth Sense? Roberto Benigni for Life is Beautiful over Edward Norton in American History X? Come on!! Did the Academy even WATCH those films? If they did, it would be clear. But, I digress. There have been several cases of the better produced movie edging out the actual all around better movie for Best Picture. For instance, Best Picture of 1997, Titanic, beat Good Will Hunting, which in my humble opinion is the superior film. But, Titanic (which is great, don’t get me wrong) was awarded the Oscar do to its stunning special effects and overall superior production value. Same goes for the Best Picture of 2003, Lord of the Rings: The Return of The King over Mystic River, a far better film. But, back to the ‘Shank.

The Shawshank Redemption is widely considered to be the best movie ever made. In the court of public opinion, it is. However, the voters of IMDb.com rank it second, under the original Godfather. The ‘Shank is about 2 and a half hours long, but you don’t notice it until you see the credits roll. The story is about a man, Andy Dufresne (played masterfully by Tim Robbins), who is seemingly wrongfully accused and convicted of the murder of his wife and is sentenced to life in prison. It is there he strikes up a conversation with the prison’s general store, a man who’s known to locate certain things from time to time, “Red” (portrayed flawlessly but Morgan Freeman). The two come to bond over the time of their sentences, and become very close friends. They find ways to pass the time and do favors for each other and try to live out a normal life in prison. Along the way, Andy becomes entangled in the warden’s money laundering scams, which the warden blackmails Andy into continuing with these scams or else he’ll lose all of his protection from the guards, and other terrible prison related things. Andy finds a way to keep the warden out of trouble by inventing a person for all the paper trail to lead to so the warden doesn’t get into any trouble for laundering the money. This becomes very significant towards the end of the film.

The acting is phenomenal. The story is told through Red’s point of view through a series of voice-overs, and it truly feels like Morgan Freeman is sitting in your room reading you a bed time story. He plays the part of the elderly, observant, quiet character to perfection. Tim Robbins is spot-on with the distant, aloof portrayal of Andy Dufresne, and that’s just the two leads. Every supporting and bit part is performed flawlessly. Bob Gunton, the man who played the warden, plays a heartless, greedy, drill sergeant character with relative ease, and Clancy Brown plays Capt. Hadley, a sadistic, power hungry, evil prison guard as if he were the devil himself.

From a filmmaking standpoint, this movie is very story driven. It has many deep layers in the screenplay, and wraps everything you need to know in a nice, neat little package. Pleasant visuals provided in the shots of the prison and the exteriors are masterfully contrasted with the seedy images of the cell blocks and individual prison cells. Frank Darabont, the director and screenwriter of this film truly was on a mission to bring life to the Stephen King short story

In short, this movie is truly flawless. The ending, in my opinion, revolutionized the cheesy Hollywood ending as we see it today. Yeah, it’s cheesy, but back then it was just what we wanted to see. And even now, we want it. The shocking twist before the ending definitely makes you think about what was really going on during all those years of prison time. Just genius writing, genius acting, and genius filmmaking. Take that, Forrest Gump.

5 out of 5. Definitely a must watch before you die.