The Shawshank Redemption (1994) / Chivas Regal 12 Years Old Blended Scotch

0:00 In 1994, director Frank Darabont and star Tim Robbins gave the world a darkly hopeful picture at what makes a life worth living. In 2025, we try a blended Scotch with a royal background. The film is Shawshank Redemption. The whiskey is Shivas regal. And we'll review them both. This is the. Film and Whiskey podcast. Welcome to the Film and Whiskey podcast, where each week we review a classic movie and a glass of whiskey. I'm Bob Book.

0:52 I'm Brad Gee. And this week we are returning to 1994 and to the film The Shawshank Redemption, apparently the greatest film ever made. Brad. Yeah, absolutely. IMDb is impeccable and unimpeachable in its selection of top movies of all time. I remember when this became the highest rated film on IMDb. And it's interesting because I think for a little while it was The Godfather and then Shawshank slowly worked its way up to #1 And it has just stayed there forever. And it's been really interesting to see that this movie never ever, ever, ever falls out of the number one position.

1:33 Because I don't know anyone in my real life, Brad, who would say that the greatest film ever made is The Shawshank Redemption. And so I've always wondered, like, is this a function of like, everyone just thinks it's a nine and because it's a nine, it's number one? I I just, I don't know man. I think that's absolutely it because this isn't anybody's favorite movie of all time, but I'll bet you it's a lot of people's like fourth favorite movie of all time. And it, it has such a wide appeal and it speaks to such a key element to the human nature that that desire to have hope, to believe in something beyond yourself, that I, it makes a lot of sense to me why this is so highly regarded. And I would say, watching it again this time, I think that there's enough going on here from a technical standpoint that even some of the cinephiles out there can go, you know, all right, Like, Darabont at least knows what he's doing. Oh yeah 100% this.

2:34 The thing, though, is like, it's almost more not infuriating but confusing to me because it is such a good movie. But like, we're talking like Citizen Kane levels of respect for this movie now. Like once you start being named the greatest at anything, it automatically invites not just criticism, but a new layer of criticism. Like, you can't watch this movie now without wondering why it's rated as the highest, you know, the highest rated film of all time. And I think that that's the big struggle for me. And we'll get into talking about all this, folks. Welcome into film and Whiskey. If this is your first time joining us, we talk about movies, we talk about whiskey. This season, what we're doing is we're throwing it back to season #1 this is our 10th season on film and whiskey. And we chose to commemorate that by revisiting all of our first 32 films and seeing if we can apply some some of the wisdom that we've learned from the what almost 400 movies we've done now.

3:33 Brad. A massive amount of movies and probably it was like what, 6 years ago now that we did it. So we've, we have had a lot of intervene in time. We've had children, we've had new jobs, that there is so much that has happened in our lives. We survived A pandemic. There has been so much that happened in our lives that I think it's worth a revisit to see kind of where we're at to, you know, take a temperature check on ourselves as well. That's true. The movies have not changed, but we have Brad. And you know, it's funny, I've gone back and listened to some of our Season 1 episodes and did not do it for today because this is a movie that I don't.

4:14 I don't know if our opinions have changed too, too much on this film, but our conversations on the films from Season 1 I find have held up pretty well. Like, I think we knew how to look at a movie and dissect it even back then. What we're really doing is we're revisiting these for the whiskeys, folks. We didn't know what the hell we were talking about back in Season 1, and it can barely be said that we know what we're talking about now, but at least I feel more confident having had as many whiskeys as we have. Yeah, I I am very, very certain at what I lack knowledge in now, whereas before I just had no idea. Yeah, exactly. Well, on that note, maybe we should get into our first segment of the day, throw it back to the movies a little bit and talk.

4:56 About we're just going to say, let's go into the whiskey. Let's go to, Brad explains. Brad's going to give us the movie plot with only 60 seconds taken on the clock, so let's go ahead and do your take with this little segment that we call Brad explains. Brad Explains is the part of the show where Brad breaks down the plot of the film that he has just seen, often for the first time. That is never going to be the case this season. We all know this. You know of? How many times have you seen Shawshank, Brad? Honestly I have only seen it maybe one time outside of for the podcast. So.

5:38 Maybe twice, but yeah, so three or four times. The the one time I remember watching it was at a girl I was dating in college. I was at her parents house hanging out with them and her dad had on Shawshank Classic and they were cussing up a storm about something and I remember the mom walking in and go really you guys are going to watch something with language like this? The dad just didn't say anything and she looked at me and goes, you're studying to be a pastor. Do you think this is OK for people to watch? Oh no. How did you get, how did you get gripped in with it wasn't even your choice. Dude, 20 year old Brad was just kind of like, you know, I think cussing is a part of life and she like walked away at a huff. It was very memorable.

6:29 And there's Brad explains Folks, we don't even need to talk about the movie now. All right, dude, you get 60 seconds to break down the plot of The Shawshank Redemption. Folks, if you haven't seen Shawshank, where have you been? I mean, I, I feel like everyone has seen this movie, whether it's on cable or YouTube Shorts or actually in a theater. Brad 60 seconds and go. Shawshank Redemption is a film about a man named Andy Dufresne, which, First off, what a great name. Like it's like simultaneously super down to earth. Like it's just Andy, but his last name is just like, classy and awesome.

7:10 Andy Dufresne is framed for the murder of his wife and her lover and is sent to Shawshank Prison where he meets Read, played by the illustrious Morgan Freeman, and they begin a decades long journey into friendship, surviving the prison and slowly finding their way out of the prison. Read through a parole release and Andy through escaping the prison. Eventually they find their way down to Mexico where they're just two Bros sitting with their ass in the sand. Bob. It basically becomes a Corona commercial right there. Exactly. You know, it kind of does.

7:52 Also all I got to say is whoever was cutting Andy's hair was doing a horrific job in Mexico because he looked sharp when he was in prison and then it when he's in Mexico he just kind of looks like he has like this 90s like half fro thing going on. It is bad. Well, Brad, in true film and whiskey fashion, let's throw out whatever was planned today and let's talk about that because the ending of this film is such an interesting historical document. So at the end of the movie, you know, as Brad said, Red gets paroled and he wants to make his way down to Mexico, where he believes that Andy is. Whether Andy made it, who has like, who, who knows? So he's on this bus.

8:36 He's going to this border town in Texas, and the bus is rolling over these hills. And you hear the Morgan Freeman narration about how I, I hope that's the last line that Morgan Freeman says, which is a great closing line because throughout the film, he's talked about how you can't have hope in prison. Hope will kill you, Hope will drain you and then leave you like his friend Brooks did. And so for him to come 36 or I guess not 360, but 180 on hope, It's a great character arc. And right then it faded out and the credits rolled and they tested the movie, and the audience was like, what the hell was that? You just put us through 2 1/2 hours of absolute hell inside a prison, and you want to leave us on the cliffhanger of I hope they're like, no, no, no, we have to see the reunion of these two.

9:25 And so they very hastily found a location that was supposed to be Mexico. They threw these two guys on the beach, and they filmed those last few seconds of the movie. So yes, his haircut is entirely different because that ending was not planned at all. Yeah, dude, you got to have the catharsis. What? What? What is hope if it doesn't have catharsis to, you know, get you through? Exactly what is hope if not seeing the payoff of your hope? Yeah, Americans, am I right? Do you think the movie would have been as good, better, worse if they would have faded out with the bus rolling over the hills and him saying I hope? The storyteller in me wants to say it's way better, like way better if it ends right there. The person in me who like, wants to make money is like, yeah, you got to give the people what they want. But then nobody bought tickets to the movie. So I, I don't know if they were proven right. I, I think as a story, it works way better if you leave it on a cliffhanger.

10:29 Although I think I there was, there would be parts of me that would be aggravated by that. Yeah. I mean, I think the best we can say about the ending is like, it certainly didn't hurt anything. Like I don't I don't walk out of that movie being like, oh, I wish they hadn't shown me the two of them on the beach. Like it clearly works. And I think that that's that's about the best you can say is this tacked on ending still helps the movie. And I think Darabont does a great job of allowing the narration to end. And it's almost as if Freeman has been narrating this whole story to somebody else sitting on the bus, Like, almost like a like a Forrest Gump type of narration. I see it more as like a Brooks type letter, like he wrote the letter back to the guys at Shawshank, you know? Sure.

11:14 Yeah, 100%. I what I now wish would have happened was that you get to the end and it's Morgan Freeman talking to Tom Hanks, telling him the story of their Diamond Shawshank. Red did become my best good friend on that their bus ride. I know that we just recently rewatched Forrest Gump, but the moment in Forrest Gump where he looks at that poor woman and asks was it an all girls school or a boys and girls together school and she gets one word in edgewise and then Forrest just is back off to the races on his story. Worst active listener of all time? Forrest Gump.

11:54 Oh, man, I, I think that Derrabot does a great job that once the narration ends, he just lets the scene happen. There's like, you don't need anything else. You just need to see the two men hug and know the friendship that they have together. And he allows that to be it. So even if it's an ending you and I might not have like, pined for, I think Durban continues to show his directing chops and he absolutely lands the plane so, so well. Yeah, totally agree, man. All right, let's get into talking about the movie itself. And and Brad, I want you to help me be my psychiatrist today. Let me lay upon your couch and dissect what is it about this movie that like, I think I'm just overthinking the movie, but there's something about watching this movie where like at simultaneously I'm like, wow, this is a really good movie and everything in it is working really well. But I have this nagging feeling in the back of my mind that's like, it's almost like if if you were in like a screen writing class and they were teaching you like how to write a perfect scene mechanically.

13:04 Every scene in this movie feels like that. And I think that like you walk away and you can either say like, it is a perfect movie because it did all the perfect things perfectly, or where I'm at with it, which is like, yeah, like I recognize that it all clicks and it all works really well. But it it felt more like I was watching an an exercise in quote UN quote, how to make a perfect movie. And at at times like it really gets me and I am emotionally invested. And other times I'm like, I can almost see like the mechanically stamped out movie that you're making here.

13:45 I don't know if that makes sense, but that's kind of where I'm at with this movie. Oh at 100% makes sense. I, I remember a while back in the, in the world of like famous preachers, Andy Stanley is known as like one of the most technically brilliant preachers. And I remember I was like, I've never actually, I've heard him like teach a few times on like leadership stuff. I've never actually just heard him preach. So I just, you know, put on a sermon of his and it was like 22 minutes and it was the most perfect sermon I had ever, ever heard in my life. And I didn't like it because it just felt way too structured and mechanical. And, and, and it's not even like his voice was mechanical, but like the way he hit the emotional beats of every point of the sermon was too perfect.

14:39 Like he just knew exactly what he needed to do to draw the exact right emotions out at the exact right time. And I walked away going like, Oh yeah, I don't, I don't like that. I, I, I want my preachers to be like normal human beings, not like pitch perfect communicators from the stage. And does that kind of capture what you're saying here? 100% I just don't know if anyone else feels that way about this movie like. Oh yeah, no, they don't. When I look at this movie, I'm like, I should think this is a 10 out of 10. And I, I kind of just go back and forth on like, is this an 8 1/2 or a nine for me? And, and I don't know why, because everything about it is good and it works really well and it gets you to where you need to go and it does it efficiently. I just don't know why it feels like, you know, if you're talking to like a crunchy person and they're, you know, anytime you hear someone talk about like processed foods, like or like a cookie cutter or something that's made in a factory, like this movie feels like it was made in the perfect movie factory.

15:43 And maybe it's because I can't see like the the humans at work behind it that it feels almost like robotically perfect to me. I I think for me, the the thing that helps it transcend that is the relationship between Freeman and Dobbins. Like I, I think that they Robbins, JK Dobbins, JK Dobbins, yes, that that is sorry, Tim Robbins. I think that the relationship between Freeman and Robbins is just, they have so much on screen chemistry that while all of the secondary characters in the movie are like perfectly fine, really good secondary characters, it's the relationship between them that really makes this movie shine.

16:38 And you just have two really great actors with a really great script delivering really great performances. And for me, that's the thing that like bumps this movie up into that 9/9 and 1/2 category. It sounds like we're like previewing our final scores, which we might be. I guess for me, I think what you said earlier is true. It's not that this is the perfect movie, it's just that nobody can ever find any, like, real flaws with it. And it's really enjoyable. Yeah, like that, like Citizen Kane, you can't find any flaws with it. And you and I find it enjoyable. But there's a lot of people who might not find that style of movie super enjoyable.

17:25 It's hard to imagine a human being in America who would not just have fun with this movie, would not enjoy the the journey that it takes them on. Yeah, All right. Well, maybe let's talk about, like, the stuff in the movie that really works. Well, then I I don't want to just spend all day trying to figure out why I have a gripe with this movie, because a lot of it does work really, really well. Tim Robbins is very good in this movie. I actually think that my favorite version of Tim Robbins is either like super cool, calm, collected, like when he's kicking back while the opera's playing or when he's impersonating the made-up guy when he's in the bank at the end of the movie and he's about to get all his money. He looks he's fantastic in that kind of role. He's also really good when he's like completely unhinged from reality.

18:13 And after he comes out of the hole for two months and he's just sitting in the yard with Red and they're you think he's going to go kill himself. Like that's the way the movie's going. But right before his prison break and he seems like he has completely lost touch with all reality. It has shades of his character from Mystic River and I think Tim Robbins is so good at playing Unhinged that those are my two favorite dynamics of the Andy Dufrane character for sure. Easily, Andy Dufrane as a character starts in one place as being cold and prickly and unreadable and ends in a place of being like, warm and prickly and unreadable. And like, you can just tell that, like, Red is the only person who really understands him. And even he is like, I don't quite know what this guy is going to do next.

19:06 But I, it's like a car crash. Like I I can't turn away and watch anything else. Those are honestly like some of my favorite moments in the movie too, because I don't want to say the movie gets predictable because I think we've all seen it so many Times Now that we just know what's coming. But there are beats in Andy's character where you don't understand why he's doing what he's doing. Like the opera thing, every now and then he just gets this impulse to like, it's not even sticking it to the man. He wants to experience the feeling of life and freedom again. And out of nowhere, he'll just decide, like, it's totally worth it for me to get thrown into solitary to do this thing. It it doesn't really advance the plot of the movie much. It's a nice moment, but those are some of my favorite Andy Dufresne moments because he's acting in an illogical way and that's when he's at his most human. Exactly.

20:01 And that's the beauty of a character breaking character, if you will. You know, if you're, if you're writing somebody, it's always attractive to have a character who's disciplined and intelligent and principled and knows who they are. But it's those little moments where life breaks in and the joy of just being alive shines through. And you understand that for them, life is about more than just discipline and intellect. It's about living life to the fullest. It's about listening to opera in the middle of a prison and making, you know, 500 prisoners listen with you. It's just those moments bring so much life and beauty, not just into the, the story, but to the viewer as well.

20:50 I, I, I think it's reasons like that that this movie is so widely popular. All right, let's talk a little bit about Morgan Freeman because no disrespect to Tim Robbins, but like, Morgan Freeman is really the star of this movie. Like, this is the movie that makes Morgan Freeman become Morgan Freeman. So he's nominated for best actor for this movie. Obviously well deserved. There's not a lot we can really say that's going to be novel here. I didn't remember how much heavy lifting he had to do in some of these scenes, though. Like there are a few scenes in this movie where the writing is really quite bad and like soap opera esque. The scene right after Brooks kills himself when they've finished reading the letter. And you know, the one guy's like, I don't understand what institutionalized means.

21:40 What are you talking about? And and he, he goes on his little soliloquy about like these walls. They'll get you like he it, it's really bad writing, dude. And yet it's Morgan Freeman. So you're just like, yes, this is how someone would talk in the real world because Morgan Freeman has convinced me that that's how someone would talk in the real world. It's it's a pretty revelatory performance. It's also, I think one of my favorite things about the movie is the way Freeman walks around the prison like he is the son and everyone else orbits around him like he he talks about Andy Dufrane. Like one of the reasons why I like him is because he he just walks around like he owns the place.

22:25 And I, I think the unsaid quality is I respect Andy because I also live my life like that. And the, the way that Morgan Freeman just so casually walks around, you feel that sense of gravitas and weight that he carries of knowing that he is going to be in this prison his entire life, so he might as well make it his home. And, and Andy kind of portrays the, you know, if, if that is, if it's a yin and Yang type of proposal and, and Red offers us the negative half and he offers us the positive half of like this prison isn't my world and I'm going to live as if it is not. And it's just cool to see the 2 characters kind of not clash, but as they become friends, you see that the motivation for how they walk around the prison and interact with the other prisoners is very different, even though it leads them to similar external factors between themselves and others. All right, let's walk down the cast list a little bit here, because I really want to spend time talking about Bob Gunton as the warden.

23:42 I remember the warden. Obviously he's like the main, the the chief antagonist of the film. I didn't remember how good of a performance it was. It is like. Dude. Lights. It might be my favorite performance in the whole movie because it is a you could go like full Jeremy Irons in Lion King scar level scenery chewing if you wanted to. And he indulges himself in chewing some scenery a little bit, but it's not over the top. And I think the moment that it really clicked for me what a great performance it was is after they shoot Tommy and they come, he comes down to visit him when he's in solitary and Tim Robbins is like riding around on the ground and he comes in and he starts talking. He threatening him basically like you do that ever again, like I will cast you down with the sodomites. And he starts like enumerating all these things that will happen to him and he says like, are you getting me now? And then his complete like it just a complete transformation of his countenance into or am I being obtuse? And I was like, Oh my God, like this is this is the greatest screen performance I've ever seen. It's so good, Brad.

24:50 Dude, I one of my key takeaways from this viewing. He's one of the best villains we've seen in a movie ever. Like he is up there with like a Nurse Ratchet type of villainy and just so freaking menacing and evil. And I just couldn't get this thought out of my head of like how much power he projects every moment that he is on screen in the movie. And how a man with so much power would never expect that he would be betrayed because he he runs his own little world. Like he feels like he is the God of this place and that nobody could ever get one over on him.

25:36 And because of that, somebody like Andy Dufresne is able to do just that. But man, what a great villain and an incredible performance. And then on the other hand, you've got like every other character in the movie who is just a, a cookie cutter supporting person in a cast of characters. And they all do quite well. Like I, I really love William Sadler in this movie. He's really, really good. Clancy Brown is, I think, an interesting character, you know, as the, the muscle behind the warden. Like, you know, I don't really think anybody else in this movie stands out to me, Brad, But please, you have the floor if you'd like to call out anyone else's performance. Brian Libby as Floyd was just stunningly good. Job Who could forget Floyd do.

26:28 Do you remember who Floyd was? I do actually 'cause he looks like there's a singer named Tom Waits who acts in some music. He. Does look like. Tom Waits. Yeah. So I was like, oh, is that actually Tom Waits? It's not. It's Floyd. If there is one person that we should talk about, and I'm sorry for cutting you off because I I need to correct myself immediately. It is James Whitmore as Brooks. Oh yeah. Quite frankly the best 5 minutes of this movie are the the Brooks subplot after he gets out of prison. It is crushing and heartbreaking and it is the like this movie makes me cry at a couple different points. No more so is it earned than in that Brooks montage. Dude it like the the voice over work that he does there. Unbelievable.

27:15 The score by Thomas Newman, Unbelievable. Like I I really think that if we're just talking who has the best 5 minutes in this movie, it's James Whitmore. Which is impressive in a movie that has Morgan Freeman narrating, right? Yeah. Whitmore knocks it out of the park with his role. I I think what makes him such a compelling figure is that you don't really know what got him into prison, But it's one of those performances where you're like, I, he plays a character that you just don't know how he could be in prison and you want him to have freedom, but you don't like realize until he gets it and you get to watch him have freedom, that his freedom is going to cost him everything. And it's just such a well written character, a well portrayed character.

28:09 I, I'm absolutely with you, dude. He he is incredible in this movie. Well, and then you got the great Lion after they finished reading his letter where Morgan Freeman just says he should have died in here. And that's honestly, that's one of my favorite moments of writing in the film because it's underwritten, like, or you know, not underdeveloped, but like they don't go over the top. No one's grandstanding. Like you understand what he means by that. It's like this is where his family is. This is where he was appreciated. This is where he was respected. This was his home. He should have been in here to die. It's man, there are moments in this movie, Brad, where I'm like, this is a truly, truly great film. Yeah, and I, I think one of the reasons is because they do such a great job of like building up Red's little collection of people, of inmates as a family. Like, they all have their roles.

29:02 They all have different elements that they add to the group, but by the end of the film you understand why it would be so hard for Red or Brooks to leave because they truly do have a community. And the the saddest part for me is after Andy escapes, there's that scene where they're sitting in the mess hall eating their food, talking about Andy and it the way they do it, it's almost like this nostalgic, my kid went off to college, but I'm never going to see them again type of conversation. And it it's like it's supposed to be heart warming, I think. But for me, it was almost heartbreaking, the idea that these men would lose a member of their family. All right, man, I think this is a good spot for us to hit pause because there's there's just so much to talk about with this movie.

30:01 It's a great movie. At points. It's a movie that still frustrates me. Let's press pause here. Let's go drink some cheap Scotch. What do you say? I am ready. Let's do it. All right, so today we are checking out Shivas Regal. 12 years old now. I have not tried Shivas Regal Brad since season #1 I cannot honestly say that I've ever gone back to this bottle of whiskey. You don't just regularly keep a bottle on yourself, Bob. I do not. So apparently I'm on a couple different websites trying to learn about this blend of whiskeys. Because this is a blended Scotch whiskey.

30:41 It is 12 year age stated and that actually means that all of the scotches in here are at least 12 years old. It looks like they're all actually like right at 12 years old. So I, I see a list of a couple different distilleries whose whiskeys go into this blend. We don't need to name them all, but there's definitely some space sides in here, Brad. And you and I really like space side Scotch because it has, I don't know, more of a floral kind of light, breezy flavor profile to it than a lot of other scotches do. And we can jump right into this, man. This is a cheap Scotch. It is 80 proof, right? Yep, 80 proof, 40% A/B VI. Don't think we need to give it any more introduction.

31:24 I said everything about the space side because you can immediately pick up some of those space side notes on the nose here, Brad. Yeah, for sure. This is like nice and fruity for me. It was like a dark cherry. There's honey, there's a little bit of orange zest. It gets a tiny bit cinnamon E for for me. It's got really nice things here on the nose. For a cheap blended Scotch, I am quite impressed. I'll give it a 7 1/2 on the nose. So outside of this episode, we've been recording other episodes recently and Brad and I just tried a couple pretty distinct space side scotches. And what's funny is that like if you had just given all three of them to me and a blind tasting, I don't know that I would peg this as being like cheaper than the other two.

32:10 Usually with cheap whiskeys, we can kind of tell there's like some sort of astringency there. Like there's a little bit here. And I think for me, it comes across more as like a cigarette ash type note on this. But it doesn't seem like way out of the realm of possibility that this would be like a $50 space side Scotch. I get melon. Like I definitely get like honeydew on this. I get a lot of just like bright apple juice and something like cheap sparkling wine. But I got chocolate shavings on this. I get a lot of vanilla. It's just a really, really pleasant nose. I'm going to give it a 7.5 Brad. Yeah, the the palate is really, really nice. It's got like a almost like a hazelnut praline vibe. There is some pepper spice going on, a little bit of that cinnamon.

32:55 It's it's quite creamy and they're the honey is there. The fruitiness kind of drops off a little bit for me and almost feels a little bit smoky. I, I like this a lot. It's not anything that's going to like blow me away, but it's another 7 1/2 for me. Do you think that this would fare better in a blind? Like if we didn't know this was Shivas and we were just trying this, like do you think that we're kind of keep we keep coming back to like, oh, it's good for a cheap whiskey. I wonder if it would actually do better if if we had no idea how much it cost or what the brand was A. 100% I I think that this would do extraordinarily well in a blind and I I actually have a friend who enjoys a good a good blind experience. I might just set this up for him at some point and see see where he is at on it.

33:46 Now with all that said, I'm with Brad. This is not like knocking your socks off, but it is super solid. It does tip a little bit into that sort of like ashtray taste at the very back end for me that the the fruitiness fades away, but it doesn't get super bitter and the smoke like a PD type smoke kind of takes over at the very end, which saves it from tasting like an ashtray. So I really appreciated that. There is an interesting note, Brad, that I almost get like a waxiness on my tongue after drinking this, which is something that doesn't typically happen. So I'm interested to see like what that leads to on our next few scores. But once again I'm going to give this a 7.5 on the taste. I think the finish is where you start to see the 80 proof nature come through. It's decently watery it it doesn't last super long. The the predominant notes are like barley and honey. A lot of the nice things that you had on the nose in the palate somewhat dissipate at the end. Still though, like it is overall a pleasant finish, above average.

34:49 At the very least, I'll give it a 7 out of 10 on the finish. Yeah, I'm in a pretty similar spot man. It's it's very thin on the mouth feel For me the 80 proofness was present right at the tip of my tongue, but you get it as well at the back end. I don't know that this would make a great mixer. I actually think it's better as a sipping whiskey, but just a really low proof one that has nothing to do with the finish. But I'm going to give it a 7 out of 10 on the finish. I'm going to come all the way up to an 8 out of 10 on the balance. I think this is actually a very well blended whiskey and not just that it's mass produced, not just that it's 80 proof, but like no caveats to that. It is a really well blended Scotch. I'm an 8 out of 10 on the balance. I'm right there with you 8 out of 10. I think they're doing an incredible job with the whiskeys they have of putting them together to get a really nice flavor profile.

35:41 Now when it comes to value, Bob, in the state of Ohio, the illustrious, beautiful state of Ohio, you will spend $30 on 1/5 of this whiskey. 10 out of 10, dude. Like not. I'm not even going to think about that. That's $30. Really. Yeah, this is $30. Yeah, dude, this is a 10 out of 10. I I'm. Pretty close with you. I don't know if I'm quite at 10 out of 10, if only because like monkey shoulder exists and I think that that's also a phenomenal value. I'll give it a nine out of 10 though. I like I think this is a insanely good value at the price for what you are drinking. Yeah, I do think Monkey Shoulder is better than this.

36:22 And Monkey Shoulder, I think both has more of like a Highland Scotch spiciness to it and also a sweeter finish than this. But if you can't find Monkey Shoulder, you can definitely find Shivas. And it's also going to be like 5 to $7.00 cheaper it sounds like than a bottle of Monkey Shoulder. So absolutely no reservations recommending this. Brad, I'm actually coming out to a 40 out of 50 on this. I am one point behind you. 39 out of 50. Dude, you know what I mean? Like I if some bro on the Internet saw that we gave Shivas Regal a 40 out of 50, like I I feel like I could be bullied into lowering my score, but then having you right behind me with a 39, it's like, no, actually, yeah, this is damn good for a $30 whiskey. Yes 100% do not buy it at the bar because you might as well just spend $30 instead of like 3 or 4 and get a whole bottle. We're at a 39.5 out of 50 on average. This is again a a no brainer recommendation. Brad, if you had to put this in your like cheap whiskey pantheon, like where, where are we at? Let let me, let's say it this way, I gave you $100. You can only buy X number of bottles with your $100 and they have to all be cheap whiskeys.

37:40 Would this make the cut? Oh, it would probably be this or monkey shoulder just because I don't know if I'd want to double up. But I do know that I like Scotch and I probably would buy both. Monkey Shoulder I just found is $32 in the state of Ohio, so very similarly priced. I would probably buy this and Monkey Shoulder and then go buy 2 bottles of Rebel 100. And be happy and just be done with it. I love it, man. All right, dude, let's get back into talking about Shawshank Redemption. What do you say? Let's get to it. All right, everybody.

38:26 That was Chivas Regal 12 year, a Scotch that we just absolutely loved. Bob. I'm a big fan. This like a very pleasant surprise. Yeah, that you only spent $30 on, which is insane. In fact, I spent $2.00 on it because I bought myself and you a $1.50 MLC dude. That is, that is the best. That's what we really should have recommended. Don't try it at the bar for five. Dollars. Yeah, go buy a $1.00 plastic bottle of it and down it. The microplastics are really what make it taste good I think. Yeah, I mean, it's like microplastics and MSG.

39:09 It is easily the greatest two things in the world. Oh man. Hey, you know what else is one of the greatest things in the world? Oh, what's that, Bob? 2 facts and a falsehood. It is going to try to stump your ball. 2 are right and what is wrong? 2 facts and a falsehood. 2 Facts and a Falsehood is the part of the show where Brad presents me with three items as fact about the making of this movie, one of which is a complete lie. Brad, we're recording this entire season out of order, so I have no idea how I'm doing. And two facts and a falsehood. But in true Andy Dufresne fashion, I'm going to hope I'm going to say I'm doing quite well this season. I think you're doing amazing, Bob. Thank you.

39:55 Thank you so much, Sir. Brad hit me with those two facts and a falsehood. Fact #1 The small bird in Brooke's pocket is not actually a crow as seen later in the film, but a common grackle. The common grackle is not actually found in Maine, where the movie is set, but located primarily in the Midwest. A common grackle, as usually my insult of choice for you, ah. Yes, it's it's a very good one for those born in Ohio. That's true fact #2 in the close up of Andy's hands loading the revolver in the opening scenes, the hands are actually those of director Frank Darabont. Later in the film, when Andy carves his name into the cell wall, Darabont's hands are used again for the insert shot.

40:43 The close-ups were filmed during post production, notably because Darabont felt that only he could do exactly what he wanted in the close-ups. Wouldn't it be funny if he used his hands for every characters? Like for Morgan Freeman doing stuff. Oh that's like the best line in the movie is when he goes. Must be because I'm Irish. Then they show an insert shot of Terre. Von's hands. Fact #3 The opera song that Andy Dufrane plays over the loud speakers is consonetta Solaria from Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro.

41:24 Originally, Andy was supposed to shut down the music as ordered by the warden. It was Tim Robin's idea for Andy to actually turn up the volume of the record player in the scene. Well, 3 sounds pretty true. One sounded pretty true. What was number 20? The Frank Darabont's hands. Yes. One did sound pretty true, but I have no idea what a grackle is. Brad, you could just be made that sounds like a made-up word. A grackle? I have no idea. Look up the common grackle Bob. It's it's I. Will I actually will right now. Thank you very much. OK. Not to be confused with with its cousin, the aristocratic grackle.

42:13 All right, I've looked at the grackle. Part of me wants to say that's the falsehood because this thing has a blue head and I don't remember that thing in the pocket having a a blue head. I'm going to say for now that number 2 is the falsehood, but I will not be surprised if the grackle gets me today, man. The Grackle 100% got you. Oh, the grackle. I'm surprised you knew what a grackle was. Well, I specifically had birds flying around my backyard and I was like, man, what the heck is that bird with the blue head in my backyard? And I looked it up and it's the common grackle. And I've been holding on to that little fact, that little tidbit, ever since. I just love the common grackle.

42:59 Like you couldn't just call it a grackle. Yeah, no, it's not a grackle, it's a common. The common grackle. The riffraff of grackles. You know the the Cardinals are running the nomenclature of the bird realm and they've they've had a feud with the Grackle family for quite some years now. All right, the freaking grackle got me, man. We should talk a little bit about the Ohio of this movie. So the film was mostly made at the former Mansfield Penitentiary in Mansfield, OH. And if you know anything about Mansfield, it is in the middle of nowhere. There is not much around. I've always wondered when they made this movie, like, where did they stay? Did they stay in Columbus?

43:41 Did they stay like closer up towards like Akron, where I live? Because, you know, they didn't stay in Mansfield. Like there's nowhere to stay unless they were living in a motel. Mansfield is a nice town. Bob. That is so rude. I'm not trying to be mean. It's it's a town. It is definitely a town. Oh no, Mansfield's. Mansfield's bigger than a town. It it's like a hillbilly Akron. Not to be confused with meth Akron, which is just Akron. I thought that was harbored. This is hillbilly. Akron No, but but see Mansfield has now made itself like the tourism capital of like all things Shawshank. They they still have the penitentiary open all the time for tours.

44:25 They had a big 30th anniversary thing a couple years ago for the movie at a theater in Mansfield. Most of the cast came like it's a big deal to the folks of Mansfield. I just thought, I've always wondered, like, do they understand that the reason that Mansfield Reformatory was chosen is that it looked old and dilapidated and like they've kept it in the same shape it was in the movie, and so it's still old and dilapidated. I don't really know like. You gotta you gotta take what you can get. I listen. I live less than an hour away from there like I have never been to the reformatory. I have no desire to go tour the reformatory do. You yeah, I know. I, I feel like my dad at some point took like a little motorcycle trip around the, like the country, not the whole country, but the country area of Medina and you know, Ashland and ended up in Mansfield and did the tour because he likes stuff like that.

45:20 I'm, I'm just, I'll have you know that the population of Mansfield, OH was 52,000 people in 1994. So bustling metropolis of the of the countryside, if you will. Listen, at the end of the day they made a great movie less than an hour away from where I live. It is just hilarious though because like if all you've ever seen of Ohio is Mansfield, like you would think that Ohio is very different than what it actually is. It kind of feels like when they set what, what was that television show about, about pop kids, about choir kids that was set in Ohio? Yeah.

46:02 Yeah, Glee was set in, like, Lima or Xenia. OH, and I'm just kind of like, I don't know if the people who made the show have ever been there. This is not what northwestern Ohio looks like. Not, not, not even a little bit, man. OK, Brad, let's talk a little bit more about the movie itself, and I'd like to kind of turn it over to you. There's a lot of great things going on in this movie. There are some obviously killer scenes in the in the film, memorable moments. I don't really know. Like, do we need to be on record talking about every one of them? Everyone's seen Shawshank, everyone has an opinion. Where should we go from here? I I'm actually kind of curious, do you think that there is a single person who will listen to this episode that has not seen Shawshank?

46:51 Like truly, do you think there's a single person 100% of our audience has seen this movie before listening to this? Episode. I'm going to say yes, I'm going, I'm going out on a limb. I'm going to say yes. Although in fact, I, I am always surprised I get texts from people or like messages on our website page that say like, Hey, I listen, I watched this movie for the first time after I listened to your episode about it because you guys praised it so much. And first of all, thank you so much. Like that means a whole lot to us. Also like I I'm shocked people listen to a whole episode of a movie they haven't seen. Where where in we spoil the movie? Yeah, so, Bob, it must be our sparkling personality.

47:32 It has to be man. That or the whiskey, the Shivas. Regal is bringing the folks in today. Oh IA 100% know that there are people who don't listen to the movie at all and just listen to our whiskey reviews. Listen, we'll take those downloads however we can get them. Let's go. Yeah, I I think the beauty of Shawshank really lies within the messaging that humans have an opportunity to choose hope regardless of the circumstance that they find themselves in. Like the the most dour and darkest moment of Andy Dufresne's life is when he is sitting in that car outside of his wife's and lover's house thinking about murdering them.

48:20 And even in that moment, he chooses hope. He drives away, throws the gun into a river to his own detriment and, you know, chooses to believe that life can get better from this dark night of the soul. And, and I, I think that's what makes this movie so universally beloved, is like everybody wants to think that they could be Andy Dufresne, that they could choose hope no matter what is happening in their lives. Oh, I thought there was a butt coming. I was waiting for the second-half of that. Everybody wants to think that, but they can't. I mean, I mean, if we're being honest, they can't because people aren't as, don't have as much internal fortitude as they think they do.

49:08 Well, so that's a great segue because as I'm watching the movie this time, I start thinking like, yet the the message of this movie is incredible, right? And ultimately the person that needs the message in the movie The most is Red. It's not Andy at all. Like Andy just has hope. And so it's like a feature of his character, whereas Red's the one who goes on the journey of discovery and transformation. But but it is funny though, that like Andy is espousing hope throughout the movie, but when you actually think of like all of the things that needed to happen for him to get out of prison, like I don't know if hope is actually you can't attribute all that to hope. Like he he just happened to be in a cell that was next to the pipe that got you out of prison and he just happened to never get moved cells And he just happened to have enough time to like make that giant hole in his wall and it never got discovered because of the poster that was underneath it.

50:05 And also, like, you know, if if the warden had just let him get pardoned, like this whole movie doesn't happen, right? Like he only actually is decides to escape after he's been completely shut down and after the guy that was going to stick up for him gets shot to death and his hope is all the way drained at that point. And then he decides to escape. But it's like the tiny, tiny things Red couldn't have done this, right? Like it only works because Andy is a genius. Andy is already doing the books for the warden. Andy already has a fake personality set up that he can just slip into. He has the blackmail on the warden so that no one can pursue him. Like it's, it's a, it's a stunning number of coincidences. It's not just like, you know, he catapulted himself over the barbed wire one day and ran away. Yeah.

50:59 Yeah, he's not pulling a Steve McQueen. Right, right. Jumping a motorcycle over barbed wire. But then he's like, oh, but it's all you know, it all comes down to hope. And it's like, it sounds like it came down to about 20 years of meticulous planning, my dude. It sounds like it came down to like an author writing a story with specific beats and like, you know, things that needed to happen to get us to the desired ending. I Who knows? It is I mean, but again, all of these things had to happen or this movie just does not have like the the chief opposition to him in prison is the sisters, right? The they keep calling them but forgive the term, but they keep calling them the bulk queers right? And because he curries favor with the guards even before the warden, the guard stick up for him, beat up the the head of the sisters and then no one ever messes with Andy or any of his friends for the rest of the movie.

51:52 It like you would. Decades more in prison. You would think prison was a utopia based on the way the inmates interact with each other. For the rest of this film, like I, I have never seen such friendship. It's such a beautiful thing to happen in such a dark place. Bob. I'm I'm just so inspired. Which which leads me ultimately back to where I started. This is a really, really great movie, and yet there is just something keeping me from giving it the 10 out of 10 that it consistently asks me to give it. Is that your segue into? Let's make it a double. We're near the end of the episode, so thanks listening to the film and Whiskey show. Let's have another film with this one, even if it's struggling.

52:35 It's the final segment of the dinner. Let's make it a double. Let's Make It a Double is the part of the show where we pick a film to pair up with this one to make the perfect double feature. Brad, I am interested to hear what your Let's Make It a Double is because I had mine in mind throughout watching this movie and I cannot remember what it is right now so I'm trying to remember. I hate when I do that. Man, we're getting old. It's. It's. Frequent anymore? Luckily for the film and Whiskey Nation audience, I do remember the movie I thought of often throughout this film. I am going to pair it up with another prison escape movie. I am going to pair this with 2002's The Count of Monte Cristo.

53:18 OH. Crisco. Yes, I apologize. The Count of Monte Crisco. By Alexandria, the Mass. We got exactly, I forgot that they mentioned that book in the movie and they said it and I was like, I was already thinking about that. One of my favorite classic novels. An absolutely spectacular book to read if you have not read it. Also a really fun movie. Jim Caviezel knocks it out in that film. Man, I can't remember what I had picked. I'm so mad at myself. I think I'm going to go the really obvious route as a result. And I'm going to go ahead and pair this up with Frank Darabont's follow up Stephen King adaptation, The Green Mile, a movie that we have not yet talked about on this podcast, which is wild.

54:08 Really good movie. Again, Stephen King, Frank Darabont prison movie hope What? What more could you ask? You feel so good, boss. I'm not gonna do the voice. I was gonna do the voice, but I'm not gonna do the voice. All right, so I've picked the Green Mile. Brad, once again, what was your pick? The Count of Monte Cristo. Monte Crisco All right, let's give this movie some final scores. Brad. I've been talking about it the entire time. I'm gonna land at a nine out of 10 and I don't I don't know why I'm at a nine out of 10. I want to love this movie more than I do. And for brief stretches, I do love this movie. And then there are also long stretches where I'm like, this is good, this is good, and that's about the best I can do.

54:55 I'm at a nine. I'm actually with you. I I'm at a nine out of 10. I I really love this movie. I think that they do a lot of beautiful things. I think that if you're learning how to write a script, there's lots of things you could learn here. The cinematography is great like that. The opening helicopter shot of like the whole prison yard going to the entrance where the bus is coming in is is like beautiful. Do you remember who the cinematographer was? Oh, I looked it up. I don't, I can't think of his name right now. It's. Rodger Deakins, baby. That's right. It's Deakins. Good old Deke the goat. My my boy. My boy.

55:36 Rodger Deke. So you're at a nine out of 10. I'm at a nine out of 10. Folks, what are we missing with Shawshank? What is keeping us from giving this movie A10 Help psychoanalyze us. You can find us on all of our social media accounts, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, or YouTube at Film Whiskey. Or if you want to join the conversation, we are on our Discord server every single day and you can join that server. There's a link to it at the end of every single one of our show notes. Next week we're actually changing things up a little bit. We're going to be watching. So join us for that one next week. But until then, I'm Bob Book. I'm Brad G.

56:18 And we'll see you next time.