An intricate and surprisingly moving guide to retaining ones own humanity while those around you lose theirs, The Shawshank Redemption is an actors dream. In the late 40s Andy Dufresne (Tim Robbins) is a young and successful banker, content with life. Unfortunately the sky falls in when his wife and her golf pro lover are discovered riddled with bullets, barely hours after Andy learnt of her adultery. The final, crushing blow is that Andy actually drove up to the fateful house, loaded with whisky and bullets; a fact he readily admits to. Now, however, the stories related by Andy and the prosecuting DA diverge; according to the latter Andy took cold-blooded revenge, even pausing to reload his weapon. Faced with such a preponderance of evidence, Andy staggers from the courtroom under the load of two life sentences.
Inside Shawshank Prison, which hearsay calls the most brutal in New England, the inmates place bets. Spotting the lanky and out of place figure of Andy, Ellis "Red" Redding (Morgan Freeman) reckons that he'll be the first to crack. With little fanfare the reasoning behind this prediction becomes clear; the sadistic and swaggering figures of Warden Norton (Bob Gunton) and head guard Capt. Hadley (Clancy Brown). Driven by the need to prove that they run the tightest, toughest jail within hundreds of miles, arbitrary abuse is frequent. Andy seems to cotton onto this fact pretty quickly, which is why he's not the one who breaks down in a paroxysm of regret; that honour is reserved for Fat Ass (Frank Medrano). Regrettably he doesn't live to learn from his mistake; Shawshank is hard like that.
Based upon a short story by Stephen King, The Shawshank Redemption is unlike any other adaptation of his work. Mercifully free of cheap horror and overwrought dialogue, this tale celebrates the resilience of the human spirit. Set over a period of many decades, the film takes its time in drawing together the strands of prison life. Each thread has a different life story encoded within it, yet together they form a single design; that prison solves nothing. In contrast it condemns ordinary, if misguided, folk to the tedium of abuse. Whatever individuality once existed is stripped from them. This is a simplification of course; the power of The Shawshank Redemption is that it sucks you into this particular world and exposes you to one possible tale. This single fibre concerns the seemingly naive figure of Andy, trapped within a world of pain and danger. Where lesser men might have crumbled in time, Andy is a man with hidden reserves.
In its heart The Shawshank Redemption is driven by the strength of its performances. Fortunately director Frank Darabont saw fit to hire a talented cast, rather than a bevy of high-profile names; a decision which lifts his creation from the merely ordinary. Robbins is thoroughly excellent as the clever and utterly decent Andy. While innocent and overly trusting, this is the key to the strength that sustains him; nothing can crush his optimism. Over and above these broad strokes Robbins also excels in the details, throwing in a faint smile or a leading comment when necessary. Equally impressive, perhaps even more so, Freeman is scintillating as the institutionalised Red, ground down by a wasted life. Near enough an organic constituent of the stone walls, Freeman gives his character a depth that hints at loss, regret, bitterness and hopelessness without once admitting to it. To the usually onerous task of narration Freeman brings a captivating balance, being informative without overwhelming the action. This is how we get to see inside Andy, a crucial window into his ability to cope.
Elsewhere The Shawshank Redemption shines by virtue of its compelling minor characters. From the very good to the very bad, almost every speaking part adds something to the backdrop behind Robbins and Freeman. In no particular order, veteran thespian James Whitmore gives elderly librarian Brooks Hatlen a rich, resonant lustre. Effortlessly indicating how prison can drain everything worth cherishing from an inmate, before tossing the empty husk into an uncertain world, Whitmore is memorable. Youngster Gil Bellows, as delinquent Tommy, is also fine, casting a crucial joker into Andy's disastrous hand. At the other and of the scale, both Gunton and Sadler are titanium hard and blood-vomit repellent. There is nothing but agony in their words and actions, a state far harder to achieve than to describe. Placed together these roles illuminate the prison, moving but never distracting the focus from Andy and Red's friendship.
There are, of course, weaknesses to The Shawshank Redemption. For a start the prisoners are too erudite and not nearly nasty or brutish enough, while the guards are overly stereotyped. In addition there is a bundle of minor loose ends, a result of trying to cover so much expository ground; the most obvious of these is how the cast hardly appear to age. This is, however, being fairly picky. On the positive side the film has a terrific and intelligent script, reasonable photography and performances of real emotion. Instead of insulting its audience, The Shawshank Redemption asks them to feel, think and identify. This is a rare accomplishment.