Movie Review: The Shawshank Redemption
Rated by 1 member
What Parents Should Know
Parents should know that the movie is rated R for a reason:
The gritty world of Shawshank Prison is populated with sadistic
guards, a corrupt warden, and predatory fellow inmates. Two
characters have sex (their clothes are on, and it's not
graphic), one loveable character hangs himself, guards shoot an
inmate and frame it as an escape attempt, inmates attempt and,
we are told, succeed in raping Andy, and guards beat and kill
an inmate in the opening scenes. But the film also shows
inmates forming a loving community of friendship and support
despite oppressive conditions.
Families that watch this film may want to discuss the ways oppressed people have kept their spirit historically -- for example, through spirituals created by slaves. How do Andy and Red handle prison differently? How would you handle such a bleak future? Why did Brooks feel more comfortable in prison than out of prison? Why did Andy get Red a harmonica? What did that represent? Why did Red and Andy disagree on whether they should have hope for a better life? Did their class and race affect their approach?
Common Sense Media Review
Call this the
Stand By Me of prison stories. Stephen King, who
penned
Stand by Me, also wrote the short story on which
The Shawshank Redemption was based, "Rita Hayworth and
Shawshank Redemption."
Here we have all the things that made Stand By Me such a satisfying experience: loveable characters, writerly flourishes (what kind of a prison inmate gives direction to a hidden stash by making a reference to the poet Robert Frost?), one-dimensionally evil antagonists, enduring friendships, poetic justice and a happy ending.
Of course, only Stephen King could make the search for a dead body a feel-good event (as in Stand By Me), and he works the same magic on mid-20th century prison life. It's far darker and far more violent than Stand By Me, and because of this, and its nearly hour-and-a-half running time, it ought to be reserved only for older teens. The story is slow to develop, and younger kids and children sensitive to the suffering of others may find this world a difficult one to sit with for the film's duration.
In it, Andy Dufresne (Tim Robbins) is convicted for the murder of his wife and her lover, and sent to Shawshank Prison for two life sentences. It's 1949, and Andy doesn't have the stuff for prison life. With Robbins' pasty, dough-boy face, we believe it.
He witnesses and experiences much violence, at the hands of guards and lecherous fellow inmates. Here, the film handles sexuality well. When "Red" Redding (Morgan Freeman) informs Andy of the menacing "Sisterhood's" reputation for ruthlessness, Andy quips, "Someone should tell them I'm not homosexual." Red answers back that the guys in the Sisterhood aren't homosexual either; it's about power. The issue is treated with respect and put in an understandable context.
