Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, October 14, 1994 TAG: 9410150025
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: KATHERINE REED STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
It is one of the gifts of this film, starring Tim Robbins and Morgan Freeman, that although it begins in the 1940s and ends in the '60s, it transcends its time and addresses with originality the struggle to maintain hope and humanity under the most hopeless and brutal conditions.
Other "prison films" have addressed these issues, but what makes this one different is the complexity of its characters and their relationships to each other. What places it in that category of films that one wants to call instant classics is the exceptional quality of everything from its acting to its editing. It is as careful in its progress as Robbins' character Andy Dufresne, slowly making his way through the crowded prison yard and wavering in the light like a Giacometti sculpture.
Dufresne is a young, successful banker who has been convicted of the murders of his wife and her lover. He is sentenced to two consecutive life terms and sent to Shawshank Prison, where he soon meets another lifer named Red (Freeman), a purveyor of the things inmates want and aren't supposed to have.
What Dufresne wants is a tiny hammer for cutting stones - he is an amateur geologist - and carving them, but that's only the beginning. One day, out with a prison detail that is tarring roofs, Dufresne overhears the chief of the guards complaining that an inheritance left him by his brother is going to cause him nothing but trouble with the IRS. Risking his life, Dufresne strolls away from his work and quietly tells the chief that if he trusts his wife, he ought to give her the money: It is a tax loophole. But it is one that Dufresne must explain while the offended, brutal guard has him dangling over the edge of the roof.
What Dufresne wants in exchange for his consulting is cold beers for his fellow inmates on the detail. He gets his wish, and when word gets around that Dufresne, the ex-banker, is smart about money, he becomes a cottage industry, doing taxes for the guards and setting up trust funds for their children.
"I'm a convicted murderer who provides sound financial planning," he says wryly.
Soon, he is working for the warden, Mr. Norton (Bob Gunton), and using his status to get new books for the prison, then a library, where he begins to offer GED preparation courses. Dufresne may look and act like an angel - and Robbins' face perfectly expresses a combination of innocence and wisdom - but he has the soul of Paul Newman's fighting "Cool Hand Luke." With Freeman narrating in his rich, resonant voice, the story of Andy Dufresne takes on the tenor of legend. Director Frank Darabont deserves a lot of credit for turning a good Stephen King story into an exceptional screenplay.
But it is hard to imagine this movie without Robbins and Freeman and a very strong supporting cast, especially Gil Bellows as Tommy, James Whitmore as Brooks and William Sadler as Haywood. Darabont kept the right amount of tension between their characters, while letting a believable amount of camaraderie emphasize the strength of their commitment to each other - to survive.
"They send you here for life - that's exactly what they take. The part that counts, anyway," Red tells Andy.
Andy Dufresne proves Red wrong; in the "Shawshank Redemption," hope conquers all.
The Shawshank Redemption ****
A Columbia Pictures-Castlerock Entertainment release. Rated R for graphic violence and profanity. Showing at the Tanglewood Mall Theatre. 144 minutes.
by CNB