Hope

Rating: 10/10 (10 September 2001)

There's 2 kinds of people who watch this film - this who get it and those who don't.
Of the latter category, yeah OK, it is just a film about a couple of guys in prison. It's excellently acted, scripted, directed and filmed. And yeah it does have a great ending.
But there's something more than that. And this is where former category of people come in.
The film is about hope, and living with hope. "Andy Dufrenes" (Tim Robbins) is imprisoned wrongly. Where many people would have given up, he refuses to do so and throughout his time in prison, clings to that hope. A journey of 1000 miles is taken one step at a time.
Contrast this to "Red" (Morgan Freeman). He's become used to being in prison, he's institutionalised, his repeated parole refusals have meant he's give up hope. And like Brooks before him he knows that he wouldn't survive on the outside.
"Get busy living, or get busy dying", says Andy. It's the hope that Andy has carried throughout that provides the salvation, the redemption, for both himself and Red.
I can't recommend this movie highly enough.