Despite its great message or let’s say messages about hope, desire to change, and combat against corruption and decadence, I believe The Shawshank Redemption is being overrated. This movie has been ranked highest on IMDB top movies of all time, yet I have major criticism against this film. For this reason, I rank this film 6.5 out of 10.
First and foremost, the story or scenario does NOT seem to be realistic at all. Everything is staged for actors and performers, and this is to some extent, typical of Stephen King’s writing style.
The most important lesson I could get from this masterpiece is that we simply get used to almost everything, good or bad. That’s why the old librarian could not keep on living outside the prison, and he committed suicide by hanging himself. He was not ready to change and it was almost reasonable due to his old age. In another part of the movie, Red said that “hope is a dangerous thing”, and it proves that you cannot be hopeless and ready to change at the same time.