The Shawshank Redemption Review

The Shawshank Redemption was written and directed by Frank Darabont and was released in 1994. Based on the novella by Stephen King, it is a film about prison life and having hope.
I loved this movie. It was well written, it had a great cast, and it had a crazy twist when he escaped. Also it was actually a deep and philosophical movie that made you think; about hope, about what you want in this life, and how power can screw you up.
This was meant for adults, obviously shown with the R rating, which it deserved with language and violence. Also, young kids wouldn't exactly comprehend what the moral and such was.
There was so much to this film. Andy Dufresne starts as a wrongfully accused banker who actually became actually very conniving and scheming from living in Shawshank, though not exactly becoming corrupt. Also, its crazy to see how the Warden changed from a Christian who's walking a little off the path into a deeply corrupt and awful person. I thought it was funny how the cross on his lapel changed to some little pin after the first decade.
I think this message was being sent to show how we can change for better or for worse and that hope can actually set you free (to steal from the theatrical poster).
I didn't see God actually represented, though I did see one Christ-like aspect, though it was sad. When Tommy tells the story of how Elmo Blatch flat-out admitted that he committed the murder, Blatch was perfectly fine going on and letting someone else, which happened to be Andy. Though quite a loose reference, it caught my eye.
I believe that this film was called Shawshank Redemption because though Andy and Red were redeemed, the prison itself was redeemed. It had a library that was garbage and from the perserverence from Andy came the Brooks Hatlen Memorial Library with a decent amount of books and even records.
As i stated in the previous paragraph, several people were redeemed. Andy, after being sentenced for a crime he didn't commit and then having the one who could attempt to save him killed, escaped Shawshank by crawling through a half mile of crap and coming out clean. Red was redeemed by realizing what rehabilitation really meant to him and that hope really can set you free.
This movie was a really deep and philosophical film and i thoroughly enjoyed it.

Andrew Cortez