Thomas’s review published on Letterboxd:
For my last movie of the decade I chose one of my all-time favorites that I haven´t seen in years: “The Shawshank Redemption”
“The Shawshank Redemption” is the greatest prison drama of all time and passionate filmmaking at its very best. It’s a touching tale about friendship, hope, determination, bravery, humanity, and freedom that has lost nothing of its power and probably never will.
Everything about this film is perfect: The writing, the direction, the dialogue, the production design, Roger Deakins´ masterful cinematography, Thomas Newman´s wonderful score, and the phenomenal acting. Andy Dufresne is one of the most inspiring characters of movie history and Tim Robbins´ quiet, subtle, and dignified performance perfectly brings him to life. Morgan Freeman also delivers a career-best performance (and I have rewatched “Seven” recently, so that is saying much) as the longtime prisoner and Andy´s best friend Red. Almost as good as his acting is Freeman´s narration, his profound monologues being one of the highlights of the film. Robbins and Freeman have outstanding chemistry and the heartwarming friendship between Andy and Red is one of my all-time favorite movie relationships. Furthermore, the film has fantastic antagonists with Warden Norton and Captain Hatley (their downfall is so damn satisfying) and nobody can deny the emotional impact of James Whitmore´s supporting performance.
The film´s length, slow pacing, and sentimental atmosphere work perfectly in its favor. “The Shawshank Redemption” takes all the time it needs to develop the characters and their relationships, make us fall in love with them, and make us feel the weight of their imprisonment. The film has a captivating flow that takes you from one fantastic scene to another. Some scenes make me more appreciative of life and the simple things (them drinking beer on the rooftop, Andy playing music over the speakers), some scenes break my heart (“Brooks was here”), and some scenes make me grin in excitement (Andy´s escape and revenge on the warden), but every scene is full of heart, depth, wisdom, and true humanity.
“The Shawshank Redemption” is one of the most uplifting and emotionally satisfying movies of all time. For me, it perfectly encapsulates the power of cinema.
