Morgan Freeman is a man without freedom but gets it in his own little way

Rating: 7/10 (19 March 2013)

Damn son, why is this movie so high in the charts? Isn't it another prison movie? Â… Oh it is more? The convicts are the good guys and the wardens are the bad guys? Wait a second there champ; isn't that the case for every prison movie there is? What is that? It has Morgan Freeman having lots of cool internal monologues that border the poetic? And speaking of poetic, isn't there a lot of poetic justice in this movie? There is? I SEE WHAT YOU DID THERE!
OK folks, let's be straight about it. This movie is a teen adventure masked as a gritty drama. The setting is pessimistic as heck and the characters act like they are all boy scouts. If you see the whole thing from a realistic point of view, it is basically making heroes out of criminals and villains out of the system of justice. And it is also about rewarding the heroes and punishing the villains with a cop-out way and heading for poetic justice.
Of course the movie was never supposed to be realistic and it is a mistake to go in with a critical mind. It is about a feel-good mentality, to never give up no matter what problems life throws at you. So seriously, don't try to reason that sweet old guy who didn't want to leave prison but the evil warden gave him his freedom and thus ruined his happiness. Neither try to make sense of why the system refuses you parole while you want to and agrees when you give up. Or how someone digs a tunnel for 20 years and an inspection never finds the hole or the soil he was removing. That is not the point anyway. It is about making the best of what you have and defending your ideals with your life.
A thing which definitely stands out is that the objective of the film is not for the protagonists to escape. Freedom is not found outside the walls of the prison yard but in the state of your mind. This is what Andy manages to offer to everyone by gradually transforming the gray cells into a place where the inmates can find recreation, hobbies, and even wisdom through a library. They find happiness even when confined.
Of course I am too much of a cynical bastard and I couldn't get into the above mood so well. Call it unwillingness to suspend disbelief but when I saw all the things Andy offered to the inmates I was only thinking of how more dangerous they will be if they ever get out, with added wisdom and crafts in their disposal. Because most criminals don't reform in prison as you probably know; they learn new tricks and come out more dangerous than before. Of course the movie was heading for the fluffy feeling of thinking "Hey, if you give criminals enough hobbies and recreation in prison, and treat them like human being, they will be law- abiding citizens when they return to society". Sweet thought, but still unrealistic since it mostly takes for them to get a proper job to support a family and stay away from their criminal connections. And yes, I am missing the point but that is how I felt while watching it.
Would any of the magic in this film work if we were told that every major convict had killed a dozen people, raped several women, and molested his own kids? Nope, but the past is not the point. It is abut offering redemption to them regardless of what they had done. Giving them a second chance if they deserve it and helping them to get back on their feet after all the beating life gave them. Sweet concept, very nicely presented, but I am still a cynical bastard, so I give it no more than a 7/10.