“Hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies.”-Andy Dufresne. Based on the short story, ”Rita Hayworth,” “The Shawshank Redemption” is an awesome and epic story of a man’s hope, dreams, and overcoming of tragic injustice.

“The Shawshank Redemption” by Stephen King, tells the story of Andy Dufresne played by Tim Robbins, a banker from Maine, who is accused of murdering his wife and her lover.  Found guilty, he was sentenced to life in prison at Shawshank Prison. Andy mostly kept to himself, but after a while he made friends with some of his fellow inmates. Among them was Ellis Boyd Redding, ”Red,” played by Morgan Freeman. Red had been imprisoned at Shawshank for a number of years before Andy had gotten there, and knew the ins and outs of the system. He knew how to find things that were hard to get in prison.  He knew which of the prisoners to hang around and not hang around.

In time Andy grew in relationships not only with the inmates, but also with the guards. He earned their trust by doing their taxes and even making a library for the inmates. But life wasn't all good for Andy. He goes through some very hard and testing times, but what was different about Andy was he always had hope.

At one point it was certain to him he would never get out of Shawshank. Until a certain unforeseen hope came to Shawshank in the form of a crook named tommy. Andy and this tommy became friends and Andy even helped him get his high school diploma. After hearing Andy’s story on how he ended up in Shawshank, tommy remembered a certain inmate from an old jail he was put in. After telling about the story's the inmate told, they believed Andy was telling the truth about not killing his wife. The only thing standing in the way between Andy and freedom is Mr. Norton. The jails warden and very harsh leader.

I would recommend this movie to anyone who wants an intense story that will keep you on your toes and make you think about what is truly important in life. This movie contains some violence so while I would recommend this movie it is also not for everyone.