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90
|
The New York Times Elvis Mitchell
There are times when The Shawshank Redemption comes dangerously close to sounding one of those "triumph of the spirit" notes. But most of it is eloquently restrained. [23 Sept 1994, p.C3]
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90
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Rolling Stone Peter Travers
It's the no-bull performances that hold back the flood of banalities. Robbins and Freeman connect with the bruised souls of Andy and Red to create something undeniably powerful and moving.
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90
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Washington Post Rita Kempley
Remarkable.
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88
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Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert
If the film is perhaps a little slow in its middle passages, maybe that is part of the idea, too, to give us a sense of the leaden passage of time, before the glory of the final redemption.
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88
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Chicago Tribune Michael Wilmington
This is a movie with every facet shining in place, every word charged and resonant. [23 Sept 1994]
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75
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San Francisco Chronicle Peter Stack
Some of "The Shawshank Redemption'' comes across as outrageously improbable. Yet the film keeps pulling you back with its sense of striving humanity slowly turning the tables against evil.
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75
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USA Today Mike Clark
Kudos go to the great Thomas Newman, whose score contributes as much as either lead to what is finally a two-character movie, though one well-performed by all. [23 Sept 1994]
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67
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Entertainment Weekly Owen Gleiberman
Shouldering a laconic-good-guy, neo- Gary Cooper role, Robbins never quite makes emotional contact with the audience.
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50
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Los Angeles Times Kenneth Turan
Paradoxically, it is Shawshank's zealousness in trying to cast a rosy glow over the prison experience that makes us feel we're doing harder time than the folks inside. [23 Sept 1994]
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40
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Washington Post Desson Thomson
Speaking of jail, "Shawshank"-the-movie seems to last about half a life sentence. The story, chiefly about the 20-year friendship between Freeman and Robbins, becomes incarcerated in its own labyrinthine sentimentality.
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company.