If there's any movie that totally earned its happy, cleanly tied up ending, it's Frank Darabont's masterful The Shawshank Redemption. After Andy (Tim Robbins) tunnels out of the prison, Red (Morgan Freeman) finally gets his parole and does as Andy instructed him to earlier in the movie: he visits Buxton, collects some money and finds a letter insisting he visit Zihuatanejo. Red arrives at a beach in Zihuatanejo, where he is reunited with Andy, and though we're not privy to their conversation, we can see from the look on their faces that they're elated and filled with hope. In many movies of this kind, it would have been fine to simply end the movie on Red finding the letter, leaving it ambiguous as to whether Andy was still at the beach or not, but given how much adversity both men had suffered through, audiences needed the catharsis, and that it totally delivered. From the dank prison to a beautiful beach surrounding, it's quite the change of scenery.
Stay at home dad who spends as much time teaching his kids the merits of Martin Scorsese as possible (against the missus' wishes).
General video game, TV and film nut. Occasional sports fan. Full time loon.
