Shawshank Redemption Film Review

Shawshank Redemption takes place in Shawshank State Penitentiary in Maine. The main characters are: Andy, a banker that gets a life sentence for murdering his wife and her lover; Red, a contraband smuggler serving a life sentence; Norton, the warden of Shawshank State Penitentiary. The movie begins as Andy goes to court after getting accused of murdering his wife. His verdict is a life sentence at Shawshank Penitentiary. Andy meets and befriends a man named Red at the prison. Red gives Andy a poster of a model and a stone hammer.

As Andy settles in at prison, he gets assaulted by Bog, another inmate.

However, he helps a guard named Byron with his inheritance tax and Byron ends up helping Andy when he is nearly killed by Bog. Bogs gets sent to another prison after the incident. The warden, Norton assigns Andy to the library where he helps an elderly inmate named Brooks. Andy also begins asking the government by sending them letters for funds to improve the prison’s library.

Meanwhile, Brooks is paroled but cannot adjust to life outside prison so he hangs himself. Andy receives donations for the library and a record. He plays the record over the speakers so it is played around the whole prison and locks the door.

In consequence, the warden sends Andy to solitary confinement. Norton begins exploiting prison labor with the help of Andy laundering money under an alias. A new inmate comes to Shawshank named Tommy Williams and becomes friends with Andy and Red.

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Andy helps Tommy at the library so he can pass his GED test. Tommy then tells Andy that he knows who actually killed his wife. He says he was in the same prison as him and he told him the whole story and even referred to Andy. Andy goes to Norton for help so he can appeal his parole since he has more evidence from Tommy.

However, Norton sends Andy to solitary confinement for mentioning money laundering. Norton brings Tommy outside and discusses his evidence but he ends up getting killed so he can keep Andy at the prison. Norton covers it up by saying he tried to escape. Andy doesn’t want to help Norton but Norton threatens to burn the library down if he does not help. Andy gets released from Solitary Confinement and tells Red about living in Zihuatanejo, on the coast of Mexico if he ever gets out. Andy then tells Red to make a promise that he would go to Buxton, Maine to retrieve a package he left there when he propose to his wife. Red agrees but he begins to worry about Andy as he gets 6 ft of rope right before they head back to their cells.

The next day during role call, Andy is absent. Norton gets frustrated and throws a rock at the poster Andy left on the wall to reveal a tunnel. It is revealed Andy escaped by digging a tunnel for the past 19 years and stole Norton’s suit. Andy goes to each bank, withdrawing the money that Norton laundered and moves to Mexico like he said. Andy gives evidence of Norton’s corruption in the prison to a local newspaper. The police go to the prison to arrest Hadley and Norton.

However, Norton loads a gun and shoots himself to avoid getting arrested. Red finally gets paroled but could not adapt. He goes to Buxton where he finds a cache with a letter from Andy saying that he is in Mexico and he leaves Red some money. Red goes to Zihuatanejo where he finds Andy and finally reunites them.

The actors of Shawshank Redemption did a tremendous in portraying their roles. One performance that I enjoyed specifically was Morgan Freeman as Red. I thought Morgan was a perfect fit for the role as he played a vital part in the main character, Andy’s character development. Morgan’s acting helped emphasize the “wise” side of Red’s character.

Morgan’s voice is the voice you would think of when thinking of a wise person. His acting was perfect and line delivery was genuine and showed emotion. One scene that shows this is towards the end of the movie when Red is finding out if he is going to be paroled. He gives a speech-like statement basically saying that he just doesn’t care anymore, and then he finally gets paroled. In this scene,I thought it showed the emotion Morgan delivers in his role as Red and you can tell he has passion and talent for acting.

The one thing I enjoyed the most in Shawshank Redemption was the overall plot of the movie. I thought the story told and the character development of Andy was very interesting to watch unfold. What made the plot unique was how it showed that the prison was corrupt and we see how Andy deals with being in prison for committing a crime he did not do. We also see how Andy changes through the movie. He begins as a weak character in general at the start of the movie but towards the end, he becomes more brave and witty when he finally breaks out of the prison. We see Andy outsmart the main antagonist, the warden Norton when he steals all of his laundered money which was satisfying to watch.

One lesson I can get out of after watching Shawshank Redemption is that sometimes even government controlled facilities can be corrupt. The actions that Warden Norton did were disgusting and it would be horrible if any of it actually happened in the real world. Some of the corrupt things the warden did was launder money, take advantage of the workers and use prisoners as their personal workers like how Andy was Norton’s personal banker.

I would recommend Shawshank Redemption to anyone that is interested in Action- Dramatic movies. The MPAA of this movie is R which is appropriate since there are violent scenes and strong language. My final word of this film is that it was a solid prison-escape movie that had a unique and interesting plot that kept me on edge all the way until the end.