Guest blogger: Aleck S1

The Shawshank Redemption , a phenomenal movie, is about a man named Andy Dufresne (Tim Robbins) who gets convicted of murder of his wife and his wife’s lover. After getting convicted of murder, he gets sent to Shawshank State Prison for a life sentence for each person he “murdered”. After arriving at the prison, Andy quickly befriends a smuggler named "Red" (Morgan Freeman), an inmate serving a life sentence. Andy gets stuck working in the prison laundry, but is regularly beaten by "the Sisters" and their leader Bogs (Mark Rolston). A couple of years go by and while Andy is helping to repair the prison roof, he overhears the brutal chief guard Byron Hadley (Clancy Brown) complaining about taxes on a forthcoming inheritance, and informs him about a financial loophole. Later, under the pretense of a cell inspection, the warden (Bob Gunton) meets with Andy and reassigns him to the prison library, to assist elderly inmate Brooks (James Whitmore). His advice and expertise are soon sought by other guards at Shawshank and from nearby prisons. Andy begins writing weekly letters to the state government for funds to improve the decrepit library. In 1965, a man is incarcerated for robbery. He soon befriends Andy and Red. After hearing the details of Andy's crime, the man reveals that an inmate at another prison claimed responsibility for an identical murder, suggesting Andy's innocence. Andy approaches Norton with this information, but the warden refuses to listen. Norton places Andy in solitary confinement and has Tommy murdered by Hadley under the guise of an escape attempt. Tim Robbins was the perfect choice for the part in the movie; he is such a great actor. Morgan Freeman is the best actor by far. I do wish he had some more action in the movie, but not everyone gets what they want. Every time he narrates a movie, I instantly fall in love with the movie and the man more and more. Bob Gunton was a perfect choice to be a crooked warden, just looking at the man you can tell that he has some evil in him. One of the themes that I got from this movie is that no matter where you’re at, you have to keep your head up at all times or people will come and try to destroy you. Also, if you have a dream, follow it. It doesn’t do you good just to sit there and think about it, going out and doing what you wanna do makes the thrill that much more exciting! I do agree with the critics saying that “There are standard ways to stage a prison film and standard ways to tell a story by Stephen King. But "The Shawshank Redemption," based on a King novella and set in the correctional institution of the title, succeeds in avoiding the familiar” (Maslin). If I were you, I’d take the 3 to 4 hours out of my life to watch this movie, I would have to say that this is by far my favorite movie.