Destinys-Child's Full Review: Shawshank Redemption
”Fear can hold you prisoner, Hope can set you free”
This is my favorite movie of all time. When it came out it was greeted by very little fan-fare and very little advertisement backing it. It is based loosely on Stephen Kings short story – Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption.
This movie was actually up for an Oscar for best picture along with Forrest Gump. I was devastated when it lost. It was obvious that Forrest Gump was the feel good smash hit of the year, but Shawshank had the better story and acting in my view.
Most movie lists rate this in the top 10 of the greatest movies ever made. Some even have it in the top 5. I would be very hard pressed to disagree.
The story revolves around Andy (Tim Robbins) a banker who is accused of killing his wife in the 1940s. After a short trial sequence he is convicted of murder and we are introduced to Shawshank Prison a (somewhat) maximum-security prison for murderers and 3 strike thieves.
The first few weeks are hardest on Andy. He works in the laundry and mainly keeps to himself. He is the subject of constant abuse by a group known as “The Sisters”. They essentially want to make Andy their girlfriend.
It isn’t until Andy meets up with Red, played beautifully by Morgan Freeman, that he starts to understand how to survive at Shawshank. Red is the man in the prison who “is known to get his hand on certain items from time and time”. So Andy asks him to get him a rock hammer so that he can continue his hobby of creating rock figurines. Red is also the one who narrates throughout the movie.
Red arranges it so that Andy and some of his “friends” are picked for the job of re-tarring the roof of one of the buildings. While doing so he helps one of the tougher guards settle a legal matter. In doing so he earns the respect of most of the guards (and the warden). And gets 2 beers for everyone who was working that day. Eventually Andy is doing all the guards tax reports and the warden’s bookkeeping. He is also working in the library and is appalled to find the lack of books. So he writes everyday to the state to try and get more books. Eventually he does get his books and then some.
The end of the movie is a shock to anyone who hasn’t read the book. I don’t want to spoil it for anyone who hasn’t seen it. This movie just proves once again that Stephen King is not just the master of horror.
In writer-director Frank Darabont's THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION Andy Dufresne Tim Robbins is sentenced to two consecutive life terms in prison for the mu...More at Family Video
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