Movie Review For the Shawshank Redemption

This classic movie won an Oscar for the first time director Frank Darabont and you can see why.
It is based on a short story "Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption" by Stephen King, and focuses on the life of a young banker Andy Dufresne played by Tim Robbins(The Player), after being found guilty of the murder of his wife and her male companion.
He protests his innocence, but the judge seeing his demeanour paraphrased, says "you strike me as a particularly cold and remorseless individual... " and sentences him to two life sentences.
Whilst in prison he befriends the local prison smuggler, Ellis Boyd "Red" Redding played magnificently(who was nominated and many felt deserved the Oscar for Best Actor in a leading role) by Morgan Freeman. There is a scene that might leave many a little befuddled, as Andy askes Red if he can smuggle in Rita Hayworth, Red replies no problem, narrating that whenever anyone needed anything they came to him, and you are left in two minds on what exactly this means.
It captures the torment of prison, and the prisoners struggles as their humanity is eroded. There is a particular poignant scene played by the late James Whitmore(Give 'em hell Harry) as Brooks Hatlen who has been released into a modern world after fifty years in prison, writing a letter to his friends back in jail, whilst his voice narrates the letter we are shown him struggling to get to grips with the modern world, such as crossing the road to avoid the many motor cars, he hardly ever saw when he was a kid.
Along with having to serve time for a crime he didn't commit Andy also has to help the corrupt warden, Warden Norton played wonderfully by Bob Gunton(The Lazarus Project) siphon money obtained from using the prisoners as cheap workers into private accounts, as well as the Warden's enforcer Captain Hadley played by Clancy Brown(Highlander, Kelvin Inman in Lost) prevent the government from taking huge chunk of tax from his inheritance. While in prison Andy tries to take his mind over the wrongful conviction by focusing on projects such as a prison library, carving out chess pieces, and helping Tommy played by a young Gil Bellows(Ally McBeal) pass his school exams.
This is a well directed movie, with superb performances from all and it is truly a wonderful case of the "indomitable human spirit".

Some Words After Seeing the Movie "The Shawshank Redemption"

I have seen the movie twice. Every time I saw it I was encouraged by the chief actor Andy Dufresne' thoughts, behavior, belief in life. The movie is about a banker named Andy Duframe (Tim Robbins) who is wrongly accused of a double homicide he didn't commit. At last he was sent to Shawshank Prison for life time. In prison there is a man named Ellis Boyd 'Red' Redding (Morgan Freeman) who has an ability to deliver almost any types of contraband (except, on his own principles, hard drugs and weapons) into Shawshank Prison.
So this makes him a very important man in Shawshank Prison's social structure. And it is also the reason why he first became acquainted with Andy. Andy also befriends Red. One day he asked Red for a rock hammer and later he asked a poster. And Andy also befriends prison guards by giving them financial advice. He does it because he has a great plan in his heart. Gradually the warden (Bob Gunton) became interested in him. And he let Andy help him do shady financial scams. One day Andy heard from another prisoner, Tommy (Gil Bellows), whose former cellmate had bragged about killing a rich golfer and some hot-shot banker's wife and the banker getting jailed for it.
This is clearly the real killer of Andy's wife. And Andy tells the warden he is innocent. But the warden refuses him and tells Andy to ignore the story. The Warden then makes Tommy killed. Andy does not want to help the warden with his scam anymore. And one morning Andy is gone. The prison guards search his cell and find he dug out of the wall an escaping way with the hammer and hid the hole with the poster. Andy then takes the money accumulated from the scam (a banker's salary for 20 years) and leaves the town. The police attempt to arrest the warden who commits suicide. Red passes his parol board and reunites with Andy in a Pacific Mexican Town at last.
The theme of this movie is about hope and the power of friendship. We all need hope and also friends in our lives. Maybe there are these two things encouraging us moving forward. There sentences said by Andy impressed me much. The first one is: You know some birds are not meant to be caged; their feathers are just too bright. The second is: There is something inside, that they can't get to, that they can't touch. That's yours.
The third is: Hope is a good thing and maybe the best of things. And no good thing ever dies. I want to say I really like these sentences. They make me think positively and give me lots of courage and make me full of hope. I hope everyone can see the movie and I'm sure you will be driven to live positively and hopefully as Andy lives.

Movie Review: The Shawshank Redemption

The Shawshank Redemption what a great movie it is! It is a must watch movie for every one irrespective of their age. Classic, great, master piece these words seem very weak to gauge the movie. To be honest, I am short of adjectives to judge the movie. It has literally become the benchmark of a great movie. It was nominated for 7 Oscars but surprisingly did not get even one!
It is an adaptation of a novel "Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption" written by famous writer Stephen King and then brought to the silver screen by Frank Darabont. The movie is all about a small, simple and plain four-letter word "Hope" and the storyline of the movie is "Going to prison for serving two life sentences of an innocent man for killing his wife and her secret lover, then his thrilling life in the prison and finally, after about 20 years his great escape from the prison." The storyline might sound average and boring on paper, but if you start to watch the movie you will certainly feel that you are in the prison with them! In fact, it did not do a great business at the box office, may be because of its simple storyline, and another strong reason could be the release of another great movie "Forrest Gump" where legendary actor Tom Hanks acted flawlessly and won Oscar as best actor in a leading role but after the release of DVD everyone started to feel the essence of the movie and as a result now, The Shawshank Redemption has same 9.2 rating along with The Godfather but the maximum number of votes for "The Shawshank Redemption" enable it tops the table.
Andy Dufresne (Tim Robbins) plays the role of the convicted prisoner and Ellis Boyd "Red" Redding (exquisitely performed by Morgan Freeman) who is also a prisoner but not innocent like Andy, plays a key role in the movie. Red was surprising paroled after 40 long years and then he met his friend recently escaped Andy in a Pacific Mexican Town. The movie is loaded with strong, optimistic dialogues and most of them are very difficult to forget like--"Some birds are not meant to be caged; their feathers are just too bright"; "There is something inside that they can't get to, that they can't touch. That's yours."; "Hope is a good thing and may be the best of things. And no good thing ever dies."
It is a highly educative movie and certainly worth watching over and over. To be honest, you cannot afford to miss the movie. Finally, I want to say that The Shawshank Redemption is a movie that you must watch before you die!

Faisal Muhammad Khan is a freelance article writer. He cannot stop loving writing and reading. He is so natural that it seems his words are always talking to you. He has a very sharp eye not only for grammatical errors, but stylistic choices that could be improved to make the piece flow better. In a nutshell, whatever the topic is, he is more like a story-teller than a writer! He lives in Dhaka, Bangladesh.