Of all the movies I have enjoyed over the years, one of my favorites was, "The Shawshank Redemption". The reason I think it is such a great movie is because it has a good character conflict and resolution, presents an underdog scenario, and concludes with a happy ending.
Andy, the main character, is sentenced to life in prison at Shawshank for the murder of his wife, even though he is truly innocent. During his time at Shawshank he runs across certain conflicts. Of these conflicts are a group of three brothers called "the sisters". Their hobby was raping new prisoners. Unfortunately Andy became their new target. He would try to fight them off whenever they messed with him, but he couldn't always fend them off. This went on for a couple of years before Andy finally came across a way to resolve the problem. After finding out Andy was an accountant, the Warden of the prison opted to let Andy do his taxes as a release from normal prison life. Andy's work became greatly appreciated and soon spread to the Chief Guard's taxes as well. This accounting naturally created a semi-friendship for Andy, with the Warden, and the Chief Guard. The next time the sisters messed with Andy, the Chief Guard caught them and taught them a lesson they would never forget. He beat them to a pulp, paralyzing one and critically injuring the others. From that day on, the sisters were no longer a problem for Andy.
The main conflict of the story for Andy, is the fact that he is stuck in prison as an innocent man. He doesn't belong there and he wants to escape. We can consider this an underdog scenario. His best friend, Red, is a man "who can get things", so Andy decides to barter a small pick axe to dig out through the walls. Over a period of twenty-some years, Andy finally finds a way to escape. His hole has successfully been dug through the wall by emptying out a couple of pockets full of dirt every day in the yard.
