Captivating, breathtaking and compelling...

Rating: Null/10 (23 November 1998)

The Shawshank Redemption is, without a doubt, the greatest film ever made. You simply will never find a better film, ever.
The story revolves around a smart, kind hearted vice president of a bank named Andy Dufresne, played by Tim Robbins, who is absolutely brilliant in the starring role. Andy is sent to prison after murdering his wife and lover. Claiming he is innocent of the crimes, and was the victim of an unfortunate coincidence, the law does not believe him, and sentences him to life in prison without possibility of parole. Once inside, he immediately befriends a criminal by the name of Red, played brilliantly by Morgan Freeman. Andy then becomes the victim of fear, despair, and the prison itself, which is inhabited by crooked officials and hardened criminals. After a while, Andy finds the hope inside of him to never give up, with the help of his friend Red and others. He starts doing tax returns for the prison guards and the warden, and after a while, the warden, played by Bob Gunton, who makes the viewer loathe the word warden, has Andy doing his tax fraud for him. It's safe to say that Andy is "friends" with the officials.
I don't want to give it away for those of you who haven't seen this picture, but believe me, you will be breathless. The hope Andy holds inside of him gives all of us a warm feeling inside of us, and tells you to never give up. The cast is perfect in every way, and the film just carries beautifully. You will find yourself praying for Andy through the whole film, through bad times and even good times. It is wonderfully capped off with a surprise twist ending that will leave you shocked, stunned and emotionally breathless.
I call this film my all time favorite, because I agreed with the characters, felt for them, hoped for them and in the case of the corrupt characters, loathed them, due to great acting. I was able to actually hate and detest certain characters, because that's how wonderful the acting is. I would actually have cried at this movie, if it weren't for me being so emotionally paralyzed by the cast and story.