Insulting

Rating: 1/10 (20 February 2000)

This movie very subtly hides it's ideology: sadism is not okay, but death penalty and the system that supports it are okay. Criminals are criminals, the death penalty is shown as the most natural consequence on earth. Like fate. Eye for an eye. The criminals are shown as kids. It's a perverted sitcom situation in a death row, with Tom Hanks as the father figure. Disgusting. And there's racism, too: John Coffee is Uncle Tom, has the mind of a 3 years old. A white man must reflect what's happening with Coffee, a white must command him.
The "spiritual" events are only superficial. They distract from the basic questions this movie cowardly avoids. About crime, punishment, remorse, duty. And why a Christian society thinks that it is okay to kill criminals.
Highly overrated and self-important movie