Mr. Lagrone’s favorite movie is The Shawshank Redemption. He said he loves this movie for many reasons. “The movie is very similar to the book,” said Mr. LaGrone, “and that’s important…so many times the book is better than the movie. Another reason is that it is a story of perseverance, which I find so important. And it has a happy ending…which is always important in a movie.”

The first time that Mr.Lagron saw this movie was way back in 1995 or 1996. He was in the army down in Oklahoma and he was in the barracks, with all of the other soldiers—and there was no air conditioning. “It was hot Saturday and I just wanted to get out of the heat,” recalls Lagrone, “so I went to the movies because of the air conditioning. I saw the name of the movie and remembered saying to myself how silly the name of the movie was…but I went to see it anyway.” He didn’t even know who was in the movie and he was so shocked at how good it was. “I read the book right after seeing the film,” said Lagrone, “…I couldn’t believe how good the book was and how close it was to the film.”

His two favorite characters from the movie are Andy Dufresne (portrayed by Tim Robbins) and his friend Red (actor Morgan Freeman). “The casting for the film was spot on,” states Lagrone, “… they picked the best two actors to play the parts.” His favorite scenes are towards the end of the movie. “When you realize what Dufresne’s plan is to escape,” says Lagrone, “and then the final scene on the beach and everything has worked out…just perfect.”