My Personal Best

Rating: 10/10 (21 May 2006)

Shawshank is among the very finest of movies I've ever seen, because it touches me personally as no other film has ever done. Andy Dufresne's anguish over his circumstance is so close to my own, it's as though he were telling MY story, not reading from a fictitious script. Especially moving is the scene, sitting with Red, he tells how, no, he didn't kill his wife, etc., etc., and the remainder of the ensuing conversation, and his decision to "Get busy living, or get busy dying" is as close to my heart and soul as any screen dialog I've ever heard. No, I didn't kill my ex-wife,(she's still alive and well), but my personal anguish over the circumstances and travails I've endured through the years, are truly mine, to the nth degree. If I were to write a script of my own life, the script of Shawshank would be mine! As for inconsistencies in the story, however, the one glaring defect so obvious is that no facility in the world keeps the same man in the same cell for 20+ years without change, or even the normal shakedown inspections. How Andy managed to cut a hole through the wall behind the poster without being discovered is absolutely ridiculous, it just doesn't happen! Morgan Freeman's sonorous voice narration simply adds to the warmth and beauty of the storyline, so heartfelt and true-to-character, it brings tears to the eyes. Yes, Shawshank is among the best ever, Thank You, one and all!