Surprising

Rating: 8/10 (24 October 1999)

What praises can I sing about this movie that haven't been sung already? However, what this movie DID do was surprise me. I don't know whether I should have expected the movie's ending or not, but all the same it did give me a bit of a shock. While some of the things have been seen before many times (the bible-thumping hypocritical warden, for one), I was pleased with some of the lines from the movie ("Trust in the Lord...your ass belongs to me."), and delighted with how the movie was wrapped up so neatly. See this movie not as an artsy, thematic flick, but see it as an excellent, expertly done story, and you will agree with me when I say it's one of the five best movies of our decade.