Why ‘Shawshank Redemption’ sits atop the rewatchable movies list

Frank Darabont’s prison opus plays like a hit song, 30 years later.

There’s something unique about a great movie that also happens to be highly rewatchable. It’s not as common as a nice picture or a film that was well made yet doesn’t sit atop the pile of discs or streamer options for a revisit. Some sets are best seen once, before being broken down and discarded in your head. So if Schindler’s List is at the top of the “hard to rewatch” stack, The Shawshank Redemption is at the other end of the spectrum. It’s a “stop what you’re doing and watch the rest” kind of flick.

This much was confirmed when I saw it on the big screen this past week for the first time in decades. Every scene I saw coming, but the impact was still strong and emotional enough to make an impact that felt fresh somehow. Frank Darabont’s adaptation of Stephen King’s novel demands your attention, whether it’s catching the final 45 minutes on TBS or being able to go through the whole thing. Thursday night at Galleria 6 Cinemas, it was a date with the big screen.

Shawshank may not be at the top of the list for old movies to see on the biggest screen possible again. After all, it’s a movie that can be adored from anywhere on any sized screen. However, the big screen brings back a lot of memories, taking you back to that movie theater that saw you shake hands with a film for the first time.

As in the first time I saw and fell in love with the final scene with Morgan Freeman’s Red and Tim Robbins’ Andy by the Pacific ocean. The camera panning back as the two men, prison inmates turned best friends, embrace after time apart. One of them escaped while the other one got out after 40 years, colliding by the water in a retirement endeavor that won’t involve crawling through 500 yards of shit. Seeing that on the big screen is a difference maker, a reason to go out and experience that feeling again.

Shawshank’s specialty was making a prison movie, something that could be dire and depressing in another filmmaker’s hands, into a Cheers type of atmosphere with friends who knew each other for years… behind bars. But Darabont also cut right to the heart of a flock of human birds trapped in a giant cage, under the watch of a corrupt warden and terrifyingly sinister guard. It was serious, certain, and made you laugh. That’s a mix that swallows most directors whole when only given a single movie to produce lightning in a bottle.

Shawshank is where audiences first met the uber-talented Clancy Brown, who embodied the fearsome Captain Hadley, and Bob Gunton, who delivered cinema fans one of the hardest warden nuts to crack. James Whitmore’s lovable Brooks, William Sadler’s Hank Williams loving Heywood, and Gil Bellows’ ill-fated Tommy. The list goes on and on, including Freeman’s son Alfonso, who plays Red in the young photos.

Freeman owns the film. Robbins is always a trusted presence and imbues Andy with the willpower that viewers need to clamp to for the running time, but Red is the safe vessel that your heart will cling to while the horrors and misery of a life behind bars can do to a man. While the actor had made a mark before the release of this movie, this is where Freeman stepped into a completely different sphere of actors. Anyone who watched The Shawshank Redemption loved Red to pieces, including me.

The voice was born here, lending King’s narration a few extra ounces of gravitas. We felt what Freeman’s felon felt, the regret and sadness that comes with a life that suddenly hangs on one poor decision for four decades. It’s the acting that made audiences feel the sheer power in that final oceanside scene.

Thomas Newman’s score remains a paramount for dramas, the curiosity of his musical arrangements matching with heartfelt notes that always seem to include a piano. A movie can ascend based on its sound and music, and Newman helped Darabont’s shots land in the net. Find a country road with only two lanes, get into a car with this soundtrack playing, and forget about your GPS.

The Shawshank Redemption isn’t just another Oscar-nominated, beloved movie. It’s the absolute example of a rewatchable gem. It plays Sunday at Galleria 6 Cinemas at 1pm, its final showing of the week. If there’s a fine excuse to get out of the windy breeze and let the brunch food settle, it’s 150 minutes with Red and Andy and friends.

Next month, the Back on the Big Screen throwback selection will be Ron Shelton’s Bull Durham! The best baseball movie will grace Galleria’s big screen in May. I’ll have more on the showtimes, reasons why it’s Kevin Costner’s finest role, and more in the coming weeks. Thanks for reading, and consider a *free or paid* subscription if it suits you and the email inbox.