Hope Springs Eternal:Rita Hayworth And The Shawshank Redemption.

Rating: 10/10 (9 March 2006)

After just seeing this,i have to say i think its one of the best adaptations of a Stephen King story.And one of the few films that can be called a "moden classic". The Plot:
After the police in Maine find the bodies of a married woman and her lover,who were shot eight times.They bring in the married woman's husband.A hot-shot banker Andy Dufren(Tim"The Mystic River" Robbins) .Who clams that he is not guilty.At the end of the case,Andy is found guilty and given two life sentences at Shawshank prison Maine.When he is first there he is very closed off from everyone.And has fights with a prison group called "The Sisters".Until he tells a guard how to keep money from a will.While in there,he gets the trust of the guards and the warden and builds a strong friendship with a black marketeer named Red(played fantastically by Morgan"The Dreamcatcher,The Se7ven"Freeman).Things are going well,till an inmate Tommy,tells Andy,that in a prison he was in,he met the man who did the murder Andys in Shawshank for.The warden,who thinks Tommy is to much of a risk for his money business due to Andy doing all work for him),so he kills Tommy.After this,Andy decides its time he gets out of Shawshank.View on the film:
The cast. This is one of the rare films,where all the cast just click into there roles.The two leads Robbins and Freeman,who give some of there best work in this film.The way they work and build there friendship in the film,that is sadly rarely seen in any movies.The supporting characters in the film do a really good job at standing out and not feeling like they are just card-board cut outs.The main one in the supporting cast that stand out is James Whitmore as Brooks.who makes a very enjoyable characters,who you feel very sad,to see go out in a very sad way.The Screenply/Direction.Wirter/director Frank"The Green Mile" Darabont (who made a student-film based on a King short story:The Woman in the Red Room),does a screenplay that easily improves on the short story.While Kings short story spent (i feel) a bit to much time on the exposition in his story,while Darabont makes sure to keep the set-up going at a good pace,and to tighten some of the story lines(Brooks was hardly in the short story,Tommy was not killed).But he makes sure to keep the feel of the story so they do not feel as strange add-ons to the story.The direction the Darabont does is to make sure to see the actors work build in the scenes,while doing a good job at keeping the film going at a pace that does not feel over-long (something that is rare with movies now). Final view on the film:
A movie anyone can enjoy,from age 18-80!