The Shawshank Redemption

Deakins’s work here began his run of 16 Oscar nominations... it’s a crucial part of Shawshank’s enduring legacy.

If this is a feel-good movie -- and by the end it certainly is -- then at least it challenges us to dig deep for those good feelings when everything inside those mausoleum walls is unrelievedly harsh and grey.

The Shawshank Redemption is both resigned and inspirational, grittily realistic and vaguely surreal, matter-of-fact and operatic. Somehow, these opposites are combined into a remarkably smooth and lyrical composition.

The sad thing is that The Shawshank Redemption, a so-so film, would have made a terrific little movie. A pacier project would have given us less time to notice sentimentalities.

There's nothing going on in The Shawshank Redemption from shot to shot -- no expressive life, no spontaneity or feeling. It's a stunted movie.

Darabont, making his debut as a director, is swamped by ambition. There is just too much here -- too much plot, too many particulars, too many prisoners vying for attention.

[The Shawshank Redemption] is the cinematic equivalent of therapy, showcasing the power of vulnerability.

The Shawshank Redemption is as beautiful and genuine now as it was in its initial overlooked run.

Frank Darabont's The Shawshank Redemption is not only still one of the best Stephen King adaptations, but also a wonderful exploration of hope.

... a faith-based movie without any faith.