Blogging from A-Z

1994

Cast-Tim Robbins, Morgan Freeman, Bob Gunton, William Sadler, Clancy Brown, Gil Bellows, James Whitmore

Director- Frank Darabont

Andy is convicted of murdering his wife and her lover in a drunken rage and ordered to two life sentences.  In prison he maintained his innocence and took every opportunity to better his situation and those of his friends.  Life in prison was not without repeated heartbreak, but Andy remained hopeful to the last.

Why I love it– I could listen to Morgan Freeman talk all day long and, thankfully, this movie allowed me two+ hours of easy listening.  Hearing Freeman tell Andy’s story was what sold this movie for me.  Yes, everything else was very good, but without that it’s just another movie.

I thought the actors were fantastic, even the cruel ones.  I loved that the movie had a message of hope, but didn’t ignore reality.

Get busy living or get busy dying.

These words by Andy really captured the essence of the movie.  The prisoners had a hard life, but Andy persisted in making it better.  There were life lessons, thought-provoking insights about prison, and the bloom of friendship.

This movie tanked at the box office, was nominated for seven Oscars but didn’t win one, and ends up being Stephen King’s most successful movie adaptation.  Jason just read the short story so I know changes were made and I’m looking forward to reading it to see if it packs the same emotional punch.

This movie was mainly shot in Ohio halfway between where I live now and where I grew up. A few years ago we took the tour of the prison that was partially demolished after the film.  I’ll have to see if I can find a few of the pics today and add them.

Definitely a great movie and one of my favorites.