Faithful adaptation of the book!!

Rating: Null/10 (22 August 2002)

Unfortunately I did not get to see this film in the theaters. When this film was released in 1994 I had grown tired of the "prison" movie. I had already seen TANGO & CASH (T&C) and LOCK UP (LU) both of these films starred Sylvester Stallone. I had also seen Death Warrant (DW) with Jean Claude Van Damme and figured that this would just be another run of them mill movie about a guy wrongfully imprisoned. Eventually I rented this film and boy was I wrong! Unlike the earlier mentioned films this was not an action flick but an emotional story about the hardships of prison life and the struggle an inmate encounters trying to maintain hope of eventually leaving the prison. I so enjoyed this movie that I obtained the original novel and found that while there are some changes to the story they are relatively minor and do not detract from the theme of the story. In my review I will compare the book to the film. Spoilers may be present in the review.
1. In the book Andy Dufresne is in jail until 1975. In the movie he is only in jail until 1967.
2. In the book Andy's poster at the time of his departure is one of Linda Ronstadt. In the movie it is Raquel Welch.
3. In the book Andy served time under several wardens and head guards. In the movie Warden Norton was in office for Andy's entire prison stay as was the head guard Byron Hadley. Actually in the book Byron Hadley was the head guard when Andy arrived in Shawshank and had retired by the time Norton became warden.
4. In the book Red is describe as Irish and although no reference is made to his race I assumed he was white. In the movie Red is black being portrayed by Morgan Freeman, and the character Red indicates that he is Irish. While this does not contradict the book I think by making Red an African American it differed from most readers conception of Red. However, Morgan Freeman did such a fine job in the role of Red it is impossible for me to think of anyone else in that role.
5. In the book Andy, with help from a friend in the outside world, invests all his money prior to his arrest under a false identity so that when he leaves Shawshank he has money to start over with. In the movie Andy departs with Warden Norton's ill gotten gains to start his new life.
6. In the book no warden commits suicide and no prisoner is killed after the warden stages a fake escape attempt. Both these acts occur in the move.
There are other small differences between the movie and the book but none that alter the overall story. I would suggest to all that this story is worth reading and watching. There is a reason that it is ranked so high in IMDB's ranking chart.
Just a bit of trivia for Stephen King fans. The character of Andy Dufresne also has a key cameo role in Stephen King's book APT PUPIL. It is Andy Dufresne that unknowingly helps escaped Nazi henchman Kurt Dussander set up a life in America. This occurs while Andy is working at the Maine bank prior to going to Shawshank.