Don't Drop the Soap

Rating: Null/10 (6 October 2004)

Andy Dufresne (Tim Robbins), a banker, is convicted of his wife and her lover's murder, which he did not commit. He is sentenced to life in prison at Shawshank Prison where he learned the ups and downs of prison life. Andy becomes friends with 'Red' (Morgan Freeman). Red was the man in prison who could get things, whether it be cigarettes or a bag of reefer. Andy ends up with an easier job than most prisoners because of his level of education. He becomes a banker by doing taxes and setting up savings plans for guards. This helps Andy to make friends with the guards and even the Warden to make his stay at Shawshank more pleasurable. Director Frank Darabont is showing us that life is difficult, no matter what side of the fence we are on. Inmates are faced with corruption, rape, and abuse, the same things that can occur in the world outside of prison. We are not all faced with these things happening to us, but we hear about these happening to others. Naturally, we have to worry about it happening to us. The inmates are put to work just as we work in the outside world. They must earn their keep as we do for fear of the consequences of not working, which are severe in and out of prison. Shawshank Redemption portrays everything that I think prison would be like, or at least the way society has lead me to believe it would be like. For example, the gang known as the 'sisters' in Shawshank catch other men alone to beat or to rape them. Then there is Red, the guy who can get things. Red makes money off other inmates by charging them extra for what he gets smuggled into the prison for them. I think that Shawshank Redemption is a movie which can be watched several times and not become bored with it. I have actually enjoyed the pleasure of watching this movie several times and would recommend that anyone watch this movie.