#50: The Shawshank Redemption – It pays to play the long
game
A man is sent to prison for a crime he didn’t commit. For
the next ten years, he bides his time inside Shawshank Prison, making allies
where he can and waiting for the moment when he can finally escape his
confines. Frank Darabont, co-writer of the previously-discussed Nightmare On
Elm Street 3, has a penchant for bringing the works of Stephen King to the big
screen, but he tends to stick to the less recognisably-Kingian stories. From
this to The Green Mile to his later work with The Mist, he not only chose
decidedly different material but also showed a startingly amount of
understanding of the text to bring it roaring to life on screen. This film,
more so than anything else he has touched to date, accomplishes that goal.
