Never Give Up Hope: A Great Message to Live By

Rating: 8/10 (15 May 2011)

This wasn't the first prison movie I've seen. The ones I had seen before this consisted of gangs of criminals brutally murdering each other. Or it involved drug dealers who ran the prison, without the slightest sign of any law force slowing them down.
This movie has those elements, but doesn't exploit them as many prison movies often do. There is no epic fight or riot scene in the end. That's what I enjoy about this movie. It's not about deranged dealers, psychotic killers, or blood thirsty rapist. There normal people (more or less) living in this world that many will never have to witness. (Be thankful for that.) I'm not really sure if this is a spoiler or not because it doesn't change much in the story, but Tim Robbins plays a man falsely accused of killing his wife and her lover. It was a misstep to make him innocent, as it would of made his character more 'real' to have made a mistake in his life that he deeply regrets, as Red has. Red, played by Morgan Freeman, is the actors best role to date, and he's had many great roles in his career. You sympathize with this character greatly and you actually come to care for his fate much more than you do Andy's (Robbins).
Overall, I think this a wonderful film that is very well written (based off a great short story by the master of horror, Stephen King), well directed, perfectly acted, with a satisfying ending (though I can see how some can call it a typical 'Hollywood'ending).
That being said, is classifying it number one on IMDb justice? No. I'd be more than happy with it in the top 100, but the fact is there are better films out there, some which aren't even in the top 250. So I give it a final score 8/10, I think I'm being fair when I say that.