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Plot:
Andy Dufresne, a mild mannered New England banker, is convicted of murdering his wife and her lover. Despised at first by the other inmates because of his introverted manner, Andy slowly forges an unl...( read more 
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Recent Reviews
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MCT:October 4, 2008
The shortest long movie I've ever seen. A film of substance from a story by one of the greatest story-tellers of our time!! This movie left me in AWE!!
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MCT:October 4, 2008
A really amazing movie, the story is fantastic, along with the acting. Everything about this movie is great. I recommend you see it if you haven't. It really draws you in the movie, and you care about all the characters. Just so freakin' good.
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MCT:October 2, 2008Ao final, vemos que podemos prender uma pessoa, seu corpo, mas não conseguimos manter presos sua mente e seu espírito e nem retirar suas esperanças
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MCT:October 1, 2008
The Shawshank Redemption works not only as an excellent prison drama, but as a metaphor for overcoming our own private prisons.
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MCT:October 1, 2008
This film is perfect!!! It is full of idealism, inspiration, gumption, bravery and hope. It is yet the best film I've ever watch,. I commend those people who had been part for the success of the film. I can't describe how this film would change the lives of everyone, if only, we would take action.
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MCT:September 30, 2008
"The Shawshank Redemption" is a movie about time, patience and loyalty -- not sexy qualities, perhaps, but they grow on you during the subterranean progress of this story, which is about how two men serving life sentences in prison become friends and find a way to fight off despair.
The story is narrated by "Red" Redding (Morgan Freeman), who has been inside the walls of Shawshank Prison for a very long time and is its leading entrepreneur. He can get you whatever you need: cigarettes, candy, even a little rock pick like an amateur geologist might use. One day he and his fellow inmates watch the latest busload of prisoners unload, and they make bets on who will cry during their first night in prison, and who will not. Red bets on a tall, lanky guy named Andy Dufresne (Tim Robbins), who looks like a babe in the woods.
But Andy does not cry, and Red loses the cigarettes he wagered. Andy turns out to be a surprise to everyone in Shawshank, because within him is such a powerful reservoir of determination and strength that nothing seems to break him. Andy was a banker on the outside, and he's in for murder. He's apparently innocent, and there are all sorts of details involving his case, but after a while they take on a kind of unreality; all that counts inside prison is its own society -- who is strong, who is not -- and the measured passage of time.
Red is also a lifer. From time to time, measuring the decades, he goes up in front of the parole board, and they measure the length of his term (20 years, 30 years) and ask him if he thinks he has been rehabilitated. Oh, most surely, yes, he replies; but the fire goes out of his assurances as the years march past, and there is the sense that he has been institutionalized -- that, like another old lifer who kills himself after being paroled, he can no longer really envision life on the outside.
Red's narration of the story allows him to speak for all of the prisoners, who sense a fortitude and integrity in Andy that survives the years. Andy will not kiss butt. He will not back down. But he is not violent, just formidably sure of himself. For the warden (Bob Gunton), he is both a challenge and a resource; Andy knows all about bookkeeping and tax preparation, and before long he's been moved out of his prison job in the library and assigned to the warden's office, where he sits behind an adding machine and keeps tabs on the warden's ill-gotten gains. His fame spreads, and eventually he's doing the taxes and pension plans for most of the officials of the local prison system.
There are key moments in the film, as when Andy uses his clout to get some cold beers for his friends who are working on a roofing job. Or when he befriends the old prison librarian (James Whitmore). Or when he oversteps his boundaries and is thrown into solitary confinement. What quietly amazes everyone in the prison -- and us, too -- is the way he accepts the good and the bad as all part of some larger pattern than only he can fully see.
The partnership between the characters played by Tim Robbins and Morgan Freeman is crucial to the way the story unfolds. This is not a "prison drama" in any conventional sense of the word. It is not about violence, riots or melodrama. The word "redemption" is in the title for a reason. The movie is based on a story, Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption, by Stephen King, which is quite unlike most of King's work. The horror here is not of the supernatural kind, but of the sort that flows from the realization than 10, 20, 30 years of a man's life have unreeled in the same unchanging daily prison routine.
The director, Frank Darabont, paints the prison in drab grays and shadows, so that when key events do occur, they seem to have a life of their own.
Andy, as played by Robbins, keeps his thoughts to himself. Red, as Freeman plays him, is therefore a crucial element in the story: His close observation of this man, down through the years, provides the way we monitor changes and track the measure of his influence on those around him. And all the time there is something else happening, hidden and secret, which is revealed only at the end.
"The Shawshank Redemption" is not a depressing story, although I may have made it sound that way. There is a lot of life and humor in it, and warmth in the friendship that builds up between Andy and Red. There is even excitement and suspense, although not when we expect it. But mostly the film is an allegory about holding onto a sense of personal worth, despite everything. If the film is perhaps a little slow in its middle passages, maybe that is part of the idea, too, to give us a sense of the leaden passage of time, before the glory of the final redemption. -
MCT:September 30, 2008
This movie was really deep because it made you think a lot and it ,made you fight for what you wanted
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MCT:September 29, 2008
Andy Dufresne: That's the beauty of music. They can't get that from you... Haven't you ever felt that way about music?
Red: I played a mean harmonica as a younger man. Lost interest in it though. Didn't make much sense in here.
Andy Dufresne: Here's where it makes the most sense. You need it so you don't forget.
Red: Forget?
Andy Dufresne: Forget that... there are places in this world that aren't made out of stone. That there's something inside... that they can't get to, that they can't touch. That's yours.
Red: What're you talking about?
Andy Dufresne: Hope.
One of the best prison movies of all time.
This is one of the movies that is legitimate in getting the amount of praise that it does. Everything is expertly done in this movie. I can easily watch this movie from any point and just love to sit and keep watching.
It is a great story about one man's struggle to make the best of his situation by mental will, hope, and friendship. Tim Robbins is great in this role, he makes his character work perfectly.
And then you have Morgan Freeman who is also perfect as "the only guilty man in Shawshank." He narrates the film wonderfully and is himself great in his role.
Everyone in the cast is great including the other prisoners, the guards, and the warden.
Its a great looking movie, with cinematography by Roger Deakens, who was able to create a great look to a bleak prison atmosphere. The score of this movie by Thomas Newman is wonderful and powerful as well, certainly being extremely fitting in the many memorable moments. There are many memorable scenes and lines throughout.
Andy Dufresne: I understand you're a man who knows how to get things.
It is a long movie, but never boring. The movie deals with dark subject matter, but still manages to bring lightness to many scenes.
It's hard for me to think of anyone not enjoying this movie, because it is very well done. A wonderful movie.
Andy Dufresne: You know what the Mexicans say about the Pacific?
Red: No.
Andy Dufresne: They say it has no memory. That's where I want to live the rest of my life. A warm place with no memory. -
MCT:September 26, 2008
An uplifting story of friendship, hope and survival. Excellently directed by Frank Darabont in his debut directing role. Really good performances throughout by Tim Robbins and Morgan Freeman. Freeman also narates the story the way only he can.
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MCT:September 26, 2008
A heartwarming tale of an enduring friendship inside a prison. This maybe overrated at times, but this is the greatest story ever told on film, and could not be easily forgotten, so thumbs up for me.
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MCT:September 24, 2008Slightly overatted prison movie. Yes that is all it is, A PRISON MOVIE. One of the best movies ever? Your arse.
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MCT:September 23, 2008
Shawshank is not a prison drama. It as a metaphor for overcoming our own private prisons. Without a single riot scene or horrific effect, it tells a slow, gentle story of camaraderie and growth, with an ending that abruptly finds poetic justice in what has come before. It celebrates the triumph of hope over despair, of decency over cruelty, of justice over injustice. Every frame reminds us that hope is a precious and buoyant emotion that can give our lives substance and meaning. a sunny, heart-tugging hymn to that old chestnut, the indomitability of the human spirit.
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MCT:September 22, 2008
I'm not sure why this movie gets so much attention. It's a good movie for sure, but it doesn't really have a statement or theme.
A great movie to watch, I'm not sure it ranks anywhere in my top movies that "you must see" however. -
MCT:September 21, 2008
Huh? I thought I'd rated this movie already....
This film is a true masterpiece, a beautiful jewel that proves, over and over again, why movies are made. The movie has a very solid script, with well delineated characters and situations. The photography is beautiful, and so is the music and the edition. A must see to every human alive, The Shawshank Redemption's one of the best movies I've ever seen, and is, indeed, a true, unique jewel of cinema. -
MCT:September 20, 2008
I have a soft spot for this movie. Maybe it's because my dad liked it so much. But I thought it was one of the better Stephen King adaptations I've seen.
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MCT:September 19, 2008
It's about a man ( played by Tim Robbins), who was wrongfully imprisoned at Shawshank prison. He spends years there under terrible conditions, including being repeatedly raped. He befriends several other inmates, particularly the character played by Morgan Freeman. He cleverly plots his way to escape when the corrupt prison warden will not assist him after new evidence comes to light that he is, indeed, innocent of the charges against him.
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MCT:September 19, 2008
i watch this movie over and over again... it is not only an engaging story, it isn't that it is a true story... it's the powerful acting that brought this to life... tim robbins is masterful, freeman is outstanding... bravo!
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MCT:September 17, 2008
I can't beleave i haven't seen this yet! It is awesome! Morgan Freeman can narate anything!
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MCT:September 17, 2008
A great adaption of a Stephen King book by director Frank Darabont. A moving story about hope. Tim Robbins and Morgan Freeman are perfectly cast and help bring this story 2 the screen. The ending is just perfectly heartwarming that u can't help but smile.
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MCT:September 17, 2008
This was an excellent movie...drawn from the Stephen King novel.
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MCT:September 16, 2008
" this is a nice movie with good script nd has wonderful performance from morgan freeman who also the narrator of the film, its different coz u get 2 know how a normal prison's life gets effected in the prison nd how he turns out 2 b a totally different person from wat he actually was, a must watch 4 the morgan freeman fans"
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MCT:September 16, 2008
Very inspiring, the script is excellent....
Great acting, nice story, good message!
The narration and dialogue is fantastic....
It is sad to see Brooks die...fortunately Red didnt follow his path.... -
MCT:September 15, 2008
Full of message and surprises. Still, little bit fuzzy watching it. Maybe i was sick at the time :-P
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MCT:September 12, 2008
One of the best adapt of a Steven King tail ive ever seen,this is such a richly told story,with an ending that makes you smile from cheek to cheek.
My Friends Said...
The Shawshank Redemption Recent Reviews
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Comments
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maralekozposted 49 days ago -
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Not even walls can hold hope confined.
Shawshank is a tale of freedom, friendship and the bond of overcoming struggle in the face of desperation.
A true masterpiece.posted 105 days ago -
When it comes to these internet discussion forums, I've been institutionalized. If I ever try to make it on the outside, I might end up hanging myself.
posted 110 days ago -
It plants in y0u that particular feeling, which makes really think of life.It's like watching the "25th frame" - y0u don't know what exactly is but it fills y0u.Whatever, great m0vie! :)
posted 224 days ago -
This movie is all about hope. A simple man. Innocent Man.
I cried, I laughed, I was scared...it's an ongoing emotional rollercoatser. One of Morgan Freemans and Tim Robbins best ever. I made this movie my number 1 movie ever. I just love it. A must watch. ~Tposted 234 days ago -
This is definitely my all time favourtie film. The Shawshank Redemption is a very moving story about hope and the power of friendship. The cast is first rate with everyone giving a great performance especially Tim Robbins and Morgan Freeman. I'd recommend it for anyone. Proof that Stephen King doesn't just write horror.
posted 242 days ago -
o my god.....this movie is awesome.....it passes so many messages for life...tim robbins and morgan freeman's acting is very good...
posted 308 days ago -
we are reading the book then watching the movie in english... i can't wait... does ne one kno if the book is good? lol!
posted 391 days ago
