Critics Scoreboard
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
Average Critic Score:
80
(19 sources)
80
(19 sources)
-
100
Empire
A thumpingly good ode to friendship, hope, wit, wiles and wisdom, brimming with crackling characters and topped with the most twisteroo of twists since "The Crying Game." Read Full Review » -
90
The New Yorker
Too long, but it feels sturdy and stirring – there's an old fashioned decency in the way that it exerts, and increases, its claim upon our feelings. [26 Sept 1994, p.108] Read Full Review » -
90
Time
[Darabont] makes you feel the maddening pace of prison time without letting his picture succumb to it. Read Full Review » -
90
Rolling Stone
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. Read Full Review » -
90
-
90
Variety
Central to the film's success is a riveting, unfussy performance from Robbins. Freeman has the showier role, allowing him a grace and dignity that come naturally. Read Full Review » -
90
-
90
The New York Times
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] Read Full Review » -
89
Austin Chronicle
At times poignant, joyful, and terrifying, Shawshank Redemption is an altogether brilliant movie and the debut of an equally brilliant director. Read Full Review » -
88
Chicago Sun-Times
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. Read Full Review » -
88
Christian Science Monitor
As the uptight banker, Robbins does some of his subtlest acting to date. As his hardened but resilient friend, Freeman is simply miraculous, giving the role so much depth, dignity, and good humor that you feel that you've known this man forever. [27 Sept 1994] Read Full Review » -
88
ReelViews
Whitmore's Brooks is a brilliantly-realized character, and the scenes with him attempting to cope with life outside of Shawshank represents one of the film's most moving -- and effective -- sequences. Read Full Review » -
88
Chicago Tribune
This is a movie with every facet shining in place, every word charged and resonant. [23 Sept 1994] Read Full Review » -
75
San Francisco Chronicle
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. Read Full Review » -
75
USA Today
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] Read Full Review » -
70
TV Guide
A crowd-pleasing story that has little to do with the messy complexities of reality. Read Full Review » -
67
Entertainment Weekly
Shouldering a laconic-good-guy, neo- Gary Cooper role, Robbins never quite makes emotional contact with the audience. Read Full Review » -
50
Los Angeles Times
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] Read Full Review » -
40
Washington Post
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. Read Full Review »
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