The Shawshank Redemption is a marvelous story about friendship, salvation and desperation!

Rating: 10/10 (20 January 2019)

The Shawshank Redemption is easily my favorite Drama movie ever. It is beautifully written and the acting by Morgan Freeman and Tim Robbins is amazing and flawless. This was my first time watching this movie and I absolutely loved it. I was glued to the screen from beginning to end.
I found it surprising that Andy escaped Shawshank prison. I thought that he would get parole just like Brooks did, but I was wrong. The amount of time he spent planning his escape was undeniable and fascinating. Andy never lost hope. "Hope can make a man insane" is a powerful quote said by Red, but was quickly contradicted by Andy who wrote in his letter for his pal Red that "Hope is a good thing."
After 40 years in Shawshank prison, Red finally was released. He realized that he has nothing in the outside world and misses his friend Andy. However, he did not commit suicide unlike Brooks, but honored the promise he made to Andy. Andy's quote "Get busy living or get busy dying" stayed in Red's head and motivated him to travel to Mexico and see Andy.
The iconic shot of Andy with stretched arms and closed eyes in the rain was brilliant and symbolizes freedom. After 19 years in Shawshank prison he escaped and is finally free to do whatever his heart desires.
The Shawshank Redemption is empowering and leaves the audience covered in thoughts about the strong message behind the movie. The message the movie conveys is that one should never give up and always have hope.
I loved how the movie referenced the book "The Count of Monte Cristo" by Alexandre Dumas. While not having the exact same plot, the Shawshank Redemption and the Count of Monte Cristo both share similar aspects. For instance, in both the movie and book the main character escapes from prison.
To conclude, this is by far my all time favorite drama movie and understand why it is the top rated movie on IMDB despite being a box office disappointment. For those who have not watched it, I recommend it due to the powerful friendship between Red and Andy. The Shawshank Redemption is in many ways an all time classic movie.