The shortest long movie I've ever seen. Kept me wanting more and more, minute by minute.

Rating: 10/10 (20 December 2002)

At first, before starting the movie, I thought "Sounds like a typical prison riot and break-out kind of movie". At the beginning of the movie, my thoughts was even more convincing. A large prison (Which immediately reminded me of the movie "The Last Castle" from 2001), housing people of all sorts, having it's guards, warden and of course, the inmates. The typical inmate; Roughneck, hard on the outside, broken on the inside. And they all claim their innocence, as an internal joke sort of speak.
It gets to a point where I started comparing it with others. That proved wrong in quite a short while, from the point where a prisoner, framed for murder of his wife and her lover, is being convicted and sentenced to life in prison. His name was Andy Dufresne. In short terms, a straight-up bank employee, excellent with numbers and taxes, which he also uses to benefit within the walls of the prison. His reputation as a numerological genius spreads out, and soon all kinds of people, inmates and guards, are coming to him for financial advice. He builds up a library, he maintains a strict surface. He has his hobbies, to keep his mind busy (as said in the movie). He carves chess pieces out of stone, using an axe as the tool. Seemingly, this is a nice and lucrative hobby, but underneath it all, he has a secret...
The movie keeps the viewer thrilled and excited, because in every minute, something could happen. The dialog is good, Tim Robbins and Morgan Freeman, both great actors, shows and outstanding play. The crew really did good work on the set, the right camera angles, the light, sounds and so on...it was almost like I could smell the prison!
A brilliant movie. Not too short, not too long. It's worth every minute watching! My highest recommendation for those who like drama, action and humor.