The Shawshank Redemption - A Review

Cast: Tim Robbins, Morgan Freeman, Bob Gunton, Clancy Brown, William Sadler, James Whitmore, Gil Bellows

Director: Frank Darabont

Written By: Based on the book, "Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption" by Stephen King

Overall Rating: 10.0/10.0 (Need I say more?)

The story starts at the proceedings of a court trial where Andy Dufresne (Tim Robbins), who is a Vice-President of a bank, is being tried for the brutal murder of his wife and her lover shortly after he found about the infidelity. The court finds him guilty of the charge and sentences him with 2 life sentences back to back and that begins his journey to the Shawshank State Prison to spend the remainder of his days.

The movie shows in a beautiful way the miseries of the prison life and like any other trial, the position in outside world does not help Andy inside the prison walls. He faces an uncaring warden (Bob Gunton), a strict and arrogant head of security (Clancy Brown), and a gang called the Bull Queers, who are more of homo-sexuals. But despite all the problems and the trauma, Andy shows a never-say-die spirit and the flame of his hope never even flickers.

He soon finds a friend in Ellis Boyd Redding (Morgan Freeman). Ellis, more popularly known as “Red” in the movie is a “business-guy”, more of an entrepreneur who with his contacts can smuggle things into the prison for a small price. The story revolves around their friendship and discussions, some lines of which are more than breath-taking. Like a few times, when Red and Andy are discussing chess and Andy says, I would like to make the chess pieces myself, Red says, that would take years, and all Andy says with a smile is “Years are what I got, what I don’t have is the rocks.”

The story shows Andy’s unbreakable spirit and over a period of time, he, with his knowledge of finance, starts to get both other prisoners and guards on his side. He offers to help one of the most notorious guards with a tax problem in exchange for bottles of chilled beer for everyone in his work party. After that, he is placed to work in the prison library, but under that pretext, the guards take his help for their tax-planning. Andy on his part, improves the prison's tiny library, and helps the prisoners to study. Over the years, he gains the respect of most of the other prisoners and guards. But most importantly, he never lets his hope die and always dreams of wonderful things in life.

What quietly amazes everyone in the prison; is the way he accepts the good and the bad as all part of some larger pattern than only he can fully see. There is another discussion with Red, when he says that he would like to go to Mexico, open a Restaurant at the Pacific and buy a boat. Red is amazed and afraid because he believes that “hope – in prison” is a dangerous thing, but Andy doesn’t agree. Though the movie is all about the struggle of an under trail, but it is more about a person who never stops believing in life's possibilities.

The movie sticks to the story in a lucid manner, never losing the audience's attention, but it never really goes hay-wire as well. Although there is some extreme violence, it is necessary to show the kind of place the prison is, and was probably needed to live up to the ambience. The main theme is hope, not despair, and the violence serves only as a backdrop to that message. The only short-coming of the movie would be that it ends really soon and I hoped it would continue for a few more moments.

A movie based on a Novel, about a guy who is imprisoned in jail, is an unlikely choice to start off with, but once you see the movie, you will realize that you just cannot get enough of it. The Shawshank Redemption lasts a little less than two hours and twenty minutes, but its resonance stays with you forever.

And so does the TAGLINE,
“Fear can hold you prisoner, Hope can set you FREE…!”

Final Verdict:
If you have not watched “The Shawshank Redemption” you are missing something in life!