"I have to remind myself that some birds aren't meant to be caged"

Rating: 10/10 (7 February 2013)

"Every mind has billions of ideas and each one of us do things that no one expects us to do, some of those things are visible, some not but one of those things that make our life worth living is FREEDOM"
Tim Robbins stars as Andy Dufresne, a young man who faces a long, long time in prison after he is wrongfully found guilty of murdering his wife and her lover. While inside he learns an awful lot about what a man can hold onto and let himself be put through if there is still an ounce of hope in his soul. Bottles of cool drink on a hot rooftop, a slowly building library collection, the moment of musical joy that sees Dufresne severely punished for his overstepping of the mark and many other scenes spring to mind as classic moments in a movie almost chock full of classic moments. Andy quickly gets befriended by "Red" (Morgan Freeman), actually the narrator of the story, both soon prove that even in the worst circumstances, within the "hell on earth" they can maintain human dignity and strive on their own way to freedom... Morgan Freeman is the film's secret strength, playing "the guy who can get it for you" with a note of welcome ambiguity. Watching him in an early scene, when a fat, new convict (fresh fish) is being beaten by cruel head guard Captain Hadley (Clancy Brown), you don't know whether Red looks so crestfallen for the victim or for the packs of cigarettes he just lost betting the guy wouldn't break before Dufresne James Whitmore was equally memorable as a prisoner who was unable to adjust to the outside after his parole following a 50 year stint. This shows that people who have been incarcerated for such a long period, need some sort of readjustment training before they rejoin society. For Whitmore, freedom meant ultimate doom, making the scene one of my all-time favorite displaying the ultimate dark side and a certain fear in freedom. Tim Robbins, Morgan Freeman along with James Whitmore etched unforgettable performances as prisoners charged with crime. The film shows what prison life is all about. Subjects dealing with prison survival, brutality, corruption and ultimate redemption are well shown. An outstanding film dealing with prisons as seen by several prisoners. Many social problems are discussed here. The picture earned a well-deserved best picture Oscar nomination. It certainly should have tied with the winner, the equally good "Forrest Gump."
My Rating - 10/10