Since I can't seem to find a thread on it, here's a new one! I finally got around to watching this with my Dad last night, and I'd say it deserves every scrap of praise it's ever had. In addition to honestly improving on Stephen King's terrific novella (I think the only addition King disliked was Andy playing Mozart over the PA system), everything just *clicks*: the wonderful performances from the top to the bottom, Roger Deakins' godly cinematography (how the fuck does this man not have an Oscar yet?), Thomas Newman's beautiful score, and Frank Darabont's careful direction. Laundry list time!:
-This is one of the few times where I appreciate executives demanding changes to an ending. Darabont wanted to end the film with Red on the bus going to Buxton, and while I can understand why he would want to do that, the reunion is much more powerful, especially since he shows it at a distance.
-The narration could have been awful, even if much of it is word-for-word from the novella, but the casting of Morgan Freeman deflates any possible schmaltz since he has such a matter-of-fact, no-bullshit voice and tone.
-It's always weird seeing Clancy Brown in live action work since I primarily know him as a voice actor, but he certainly gives a great, hateful performance here. Apparently several real-life corrections officers offered to work with him to make his performance more realistic, but Brown declined since Hadley's pretty damn evil and he didn't want to misrepresent real corrections officers.
-I think it's neat that Darabont's direction is a lot like Andy: it's very down-to-earth most of the time, but every once in a while it'll indulge a big, sweeping camera move, which one can compare to Andy's grand gestures of hijacking the PA system with Mozart and then his defiant escape.
-Knowing Brooks' eventual fate going into the movie doesn't make it any less heartbreaking. That was like watching the opening of Up again: a mini-movie that ends with a punch to the gut.
Any thoughts?
