All Critics (61)
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Top Critics (12)
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Fresh (61)
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DVD (36)
Freeman, who is simply a great actor, a man who has never struck a false note in his career, both narrates this tale and anchors it with his authoritative playing.
A testament to the human spirit...
A passing reference to 'The Count of Monte Cristo' offers a partial clue to what makes this movie compelling.
It's a simple story elegantly, cleverly told, not to mention expertly acted.
Without a single riot scene or horrific effect, it tells a slow, gentle story of camaraderie and growth, with an ending that abruptly finds poetic justice in what has come before.
It's the no-bull performances that hold back the flood of banalities.
Powerful, poignant, thought-provoking and finally irresistibly uplifting.
If you don't love Shawshank, chances are you're beyond redemption.
Spiritually moving old-fashioned prison pic.
Gritty but comforting story of friendship.
I love this film. It's a story about hope and dreams and one whose emotional impact is as great as the Pacific Ocean is blue.
Darabont explores the range of human kindness and cruelty as he lovingly and patiently sculpts his large cast of characters against magnificent scenery.
If you give it a chance, it can become one of your favorite films, and the Blu-ray edition with its improved picture and sound makes that all the easier. (Blu-ray Edition)
...itself a testament to overcoming odds. It is sentimental and stereotyped, yet we are able not only to suspend our disbelief but to root for it all the way.
...has certainly earned its reputation as one of the most effective prison movies in cinematic history...
It's an old-school melodrama at heart, sturdy and forthright and upstanding, but without a whisper of complexity or wit.
A 'life-affirming' tale about life imprisonment, The Shawshank Redemption is the kind of old-fashioned entertainment that is easily overvalued in an era of diminishing expectations.
I have not read Stephen King's novella (his first non-horror), but some of the movie's deficiencies, such as the old-fashioned morality tale and portentous messge about camarderie and redemption--must have been in the source material.
An amazing movie. Easily one of the best movies made during the 90s and definitely one of the top 'prison' movies of all-time. Pretty much everything about this movie works and works extremely well!
...a throwback to the kind of serious, literate drama Hollywood used to make.
An unhurried, engulfing prison drama.
Why are these men in jail?
The Shawshank Redemption works not only as an excellent prison drama, but as a metaphor for overcoming our own private prisons.
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