This movie is fantastic in it's build up and execution of what finally happens. With Andy and red going through so much, for both of them on their own to get redemption. In that it also points out an excellent point for the crappy us prison system, which only institutionalizes criminals. And makes you see the flaw of their failure to rehabilitate people. In this movie the acting is expressive and realistic from most people, but natural as something based off Steven king, the antagonist and alot of other bad characters come off as 2d and dry in terms of emotion, over the course of the film you get to see the warden in more depth, but the rest you don't besides maybe a quick glimpse into their life through dialog, which is an extremely strong point of this film. I feel all the conversation are written very well, and even reds narration is written very well if not a bit cliche. The story is very slow, and paints a beautifully sad picture of all of it throughout the course. And the story on its own is a really powerful one, which is a great combination with actually having been well done. The sets are great, of course as it almost exclusively takes place in one location. But even outside they're convincing. The way this movie presents back stories I can't feel if it's good or bad, but I like it and it's very unique. The music in this movie is extremely simple, but does it effectively. And the rest of the sound design is done fine too. The acting of red, Andy, Tommy, haywood, the warden, and brooks are all very fantastic performances. They all feel like real humans. And I feel like this could be a study of humans, it shows everything in so much detail while not being super long it's impressive. The ending is just iconic, and is one of the best endings for a movie. The long narration of what happens after while showing is so well done. This movie feels very grounded into reality which makes the satisfaction by the end all the more satisfying.
The camerawork in this movie isn't the best, but feels effective and never feels like it isn't conveying the mood or theme.
Overall though; even though I don't feel like it's the best movie ever, it's a fantastically written, with very efficient music and timing. And is a must see to anyone who likes good movies. Overall a 8.7/10 from me.
The camerawork in this movie isn't the best, but feels effective and never feels like it isn't conveying the mood or theme.
Overall though; even though I don't feel like it's the best movie ever, it's a fantastically written, with very efficient music and timing. And is a must see to anyone who likes good movies. Overall a 8.7/10 from me.