The Real Life Andy Dufresne

One of my all time favorite movies is The Shawshank Redemption. I can't even count on both fingers and toes the number of times I've seen it because I have watched so many bits and pieces. If we are channel surfing and it is on? We will watch!

Remember the beach at the end? In Zihuatanejo? It became a life's quest to search it out and wiggle my toes in the same sand as Andy.

The movie's beach is actually several miles down the road from Zihuantanejo's two main playas, in a beach town called Barra de Potosi. It is a long stretch of sand called Playa Largo. On Sundays, families spend the day floating in the brackish waters of the lagoon, horses frolic in the sand beside children, and tourists relax in hammocks among the locals.

It is the beach where Red finds Andy. It is quiet and beautiful. I have been there twice.

I know the movie is based on a true life story yet I only knew some of the details. More came to light today. Did you see this?

The real Andy Dufresne was caught after 56 years.

I understand seeking justice and everything, just like seeking the perfect strip of sand (Okay, not exactly the same.). But I really wanted to go on thinking Andy was on the beach in Zihuatanejo working on his boat, sipping a cervaza, and waiting for Red to show up.

The Skeleton Twins: Movie Review

forbes.com

Since we are Catholic, mass “counts” for us if we go at 5:00pm on Saturdays. Never mind the loop hole sentiment, or screams of “Technicality!!!”, it works, and leaves us with Sunday mornings free. We often use them for movie dates. 

This morning, we saw a brand spanking new movie called The Skeleton Twins starring several traditionally hilarious actors like Kristen Wiig (my girl crush) and Bill Hader from SNL, Luke Wilson, and Ty Burrell (of Modern Family fame). Each is funny with impeccable comedic timing in most everything in which they star, just not in this movie. 

Don’t get me wrong, there are humorous exchanges and interactions. This movie is not about that though.

It is about siblings who were once close, grew apart, then are reunited under-less-than-desirable circumstances. It’s about trying to live your life. It’s about hurting, and hurting others. How parents, or other adults, can really fuck up kids in horrific, insensitive, and destructive ways by the decisions they make, or their actions, then it is up to those adult children to puzzle piece their lives back together again as best as they can. It’s about making mistakes, forgiving, and fucking up again. Try and wrap that up, and slap on a bow. Yet somehow, they share laughs. And we strangely laughed with them. 

The dialog was surprisingly intimate, and I felt like a “fly on the wall” observing these obviously sensitive and deeply connected siblings. They had an “us against the world” things going on. Though at one point, I was sick to my stomach, uncomfortable, with a strong desire to flee. Maybe I am being dramatic but it is how I felt for a brief time.

It is an intense movie with extremely strong, and disturbing subject matter. I don’t want to say too much so as not to spoil, but I found a review in Forbes magazine that describes it as “comedy and tragedy in perfect proportions”. In my opinion, the proportions are debatable (it was more dramatic to me), but there are both in this movie, and I highly recommend it (so long as you know there are trigger points in it as well).

So why did I stay? 

I stayed because I liked this film despite the bout(s) of nausea. Maybe because of it. Maybe I loved it. Yeah, I think I did.