Sunday, February 12, 2012

Bobby Chambers: The Shawshank Redemption


Bobby Chambers
Mrs. Lodge
APLAC
12 February 2012
Bobby Chambers: Shawshank Redemption
It is common place to hear the claims of innocence in a prison. As Andy Dufresne said, “ Everybody's innocent in here. The movie is based on a Steven King book, Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption. This movie was produced in 1194 by Frank Darabont. In this movie, Andy Dufresne is a young talented yet convicted banker that is imprisoned for two life sentences for the murder of his wife and her killer. Dufresne thinks that he was wrongly convicted and does not belong in prison. The movie is about the two decades the Andy spent in prison and what he did with his time there. The movie is told from the perspective of Ellis Boyd 'Red' Redding (Morgan Freeman) . This is a must see classic. It contains a suspenseful plot, a good staff of actors and awards/ nominations for the movie to be considered a classic
Its engaging plot keeps the reader interested. The movie starts out in the court room. Andy seems poised and emotionless. The first night he is in prison a fellow inmate is beat to death by the head guard, Captain Hadley. Freeman does an amazing job narrating the story since in the beginning of the story Dufresne does not talk much. The plot thickens as Andy acquires a rock hammer from Red, the man that can get you almost anything. Andy said that it was going to be used for finding rocks in the prison yard. The first two years at prison are hard for Andy due to a group of homosexuals. Andy uses intelligence to help the head guard and next time the homosexuals try to go at Andy one of them was beat by the head guard until he had to drink his meals through a straw. That was the start of Andy’s climb in Shawshank. He was able to make it seem like he was out of prison by doing the guards taxes as well as the warden. He ended up doing money laundering for the Warden. In Andy’s say in Shawshank helped and tried to give “hope” to many people. As Red said, “He had a quiet way about him, a walk and a talk that just wasn't normal around here. He strolled, like a man in a park without a care or a worry in the world, like he had on an invisible coat that would shield him from this place.” So when there came an opportunity for Andy to prove his innocence and get out of prison he jumped right on it. He is help back by the Warden but is determined to get out of prison.
This film uses an assortment of well developed actors to create a suspenseful and engulfing prison drama. This movie is not at all rushed but drawn out to give let the importance of the event taking place sink in. Morgan Freeman provides an amazing performance by both acting and narrating the story. He gives the watcher enough information yet hold back some to create suspense. Tim Robbins does a good job playing the smart and compassionate Andy Dufresne. These two actors work nicely together feeding off each other’s strengths. Other actors such as Bob Gunton (Warden) and James Whitmore (Brooks Haldlen) compliment the main character is this movie by developing Robbin’s Character, Dufresene. It leaves you thinking about many topics such as how many people in jail are truly innocent.
This two and a half hour movie does not drag all but leaves the watcher with several layered plots to deal with. Currently it ranks number one on Internets Movie Data Base (imdb.com). It just missed out on a Grammy behind Forrest Gump. It ranks 72 on AFI prestigious top 100 films list. In 1994 it was nominated for, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Cinematography, Best Editing, Best Original Score and Best Picture at the Academy Awards.
Before you are done watching movies you have to see the classic The Shawshank Redemption. With is combination of awards and nominations, a strong set of actor and a developed plot this movie is a definite classic. This movie will play over in your head over and over again. Something to remember for this prison drama is, “ get busy living or get busy dying.”
Works Cited
IMBD. 12 February 2012 <http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0111161/>.
The Shawshank Redemption. 12 February 2012 <http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/shawshank_redemption/>.

3 comments:

  1. Bobby, you did an excellent job reviewing your movie. You incorporated you quotes and offered plenty of evidence. Also, you were able to show readers the plot without giving away too much information. Two things I would do are make the criteria more clear and offer more analysis. You did a good job summarizing the plot and analyzing it, but I would also do the same for the characters or cinematography. But otherwise I was able to understand how you felt about the movie and how the movie is still a hit today after 800 years.

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  2. Yes, this is definitely a good movie review. Your ethos is clear as you demonstrate a good understanding of the movie's plot. However, it falters when it comes to the movie's implications, and why exactly Shawshank Redemption should be a considered a classic, aside from ranking. The criteria of the definition are never really clear. The rankings do establish logos for your claim which is good, but there should be more authority from your criteria and evidence to back up your claim of a classic. It seems as if most of the review is a simple summary. Overall, it is a good review, but as I have never seen it, it would be nice to see exactly why it is a classic.

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  3. This was a great analysis of the movie because it really showed what the movie was about. The way in which you did this accurately was placing in quotes that really explained what the movie was about. Also this review was good due to the appeal to logos when it gives the rating that the movie got. However one part that this review was missing is that it doesn't have a clear claim. Also one part that would have made this evaluation more successful is defining what is needed for a good movie and how Shawshank Redemption did this.

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