‘The Shawshank Residuals’

Great piece for the WSJ by Russell Adams on the lasting popularity of The Shawshank Redemption:

“Shawshank” was an underwhelming box-office performer when it hit theaters 20 years ago this September, but then it began to redeem itself, finding an audience on home video and later becoming a fixture on cable TV.

The film has taken a near-mystical hold on viewers that shows no sign of abating. Steven Spielberg once told the film’s writer-director Frank Darabont that he had made “a chewing-gum movie — if you step on it, it sticks to your shoe,” says Mr. Darabont, who went on to create “The Walking Dead” for AMC.

★ Thursday, 29 May 2014