Nerds That Geek Movie Review: 'The Shawshank Redemption'

Written by John Edward Betancourt

​It has often been said that hope is a dangerous thing, and that’s something that I fully agree with. But not in the traditional sense. Because there are two sides to hope and while it can definitely get us through some tough times by letting us believe that maybe, just maybe, things will get better in the end, it can also cloud our judgment and allow for us to continue with a proverbial status quo where we find ourselves in a funk, as we use it to cope with a particularly bad situation, one where should be focusing less on hope and more on getting away from or fixing the problem at hand.  
But while that sounds as though I’m down on hope, I honestly think those kinds of situations are far and few between, and that it really does help us get through plenty of rough spots in our lives and that matters because, sometimes…hope really is all you have, and that’s why so many motion pictures and stories in general have explored it because its power and its weight are truly something else. However, when it comes to the many stories out there that ponder upon this uplifting notion, only one sticks out in my mind as the finest possible examination of hope out there; The Shawshank Redemption.
 
Now, there’s going to be little discussion or summary of the plot when it comes to this movie simply because you’ve likely seen it and if you haven’t, well, you gotta get on that as soon as humanly possible. No instead, we’re going to take the time today to talk about what makes this motion picture so incredibly uplifting because it doesn’t matter how many times I watch this one, I walk away from it with my spirits soaring, and let’s be honest, I shouldn’t. Because for the most part, this story is a dark and ugly affair as we walk the dreary halls of Shawshank and really, therein lies the trick when it comes to this story, it works to break the audience just as hard as the prison works to break Andy. 

---

​It accomplishes that particular feat, by allowing for us to bear witness to life in the worst possible prison imaginable and man, the more I’ve watched this film, the more I realize how much these men suffer, and how little there is for them to look forward to throughout the day, and those moments of levity help us as much as they help them, and really, there’s something to be said about sticking it to the man by surviving another day. But as the movie rolls on, and characters disappear in hopeless fashion, especially Brooks, the audience starts to wonder whether or not this place is going to consume Andy as well.
 
But his unwavering faith is what makes this movie so damn wonderful because good ol’ Andy never lets go of the notion that life has to get better, that there has to be a way out of this situation and it emboldens him to do some incredible things to gain his freedom and well, it also emboldens the audience to not give up on the story because we know he’s innocent and deserves better and while that seems like a by the numbers way to deal with hope, it’s not, and oddly enough it is the ending that takes it all to the next level. Because really, this film takes the time to remind us that sometimes hope doesn’t work on the timeline we’ve set for it, but it will eventually pay off if we stay patient and keep the faith, and that’s just damn beautiful.
 
If anything, this film truly is a masterpiece through and through and I’m hard pressed to find any flaws in the performances, the direction or the screenplay. It’s just a magnificent and uplifting character study, and timeless in its message and it really is one of my favorite motion pictures and one that I re-visit often, especially when I’m having a rough week and need a pick me up and I cannot emphasize this enough, if you haven’t seen this movie, now is the time. It’s simply a wonderful movie and you’ll be glad you took a couple of hours out of your day to enjoy a story this powerful, and this moving. 

---