The "Rocky" of Prison Films

Rating: 10/10 (23 January 2000)

This is much more than a prison film. This is a film about how the human spirit can conquer the most unspeakable abyss and come out clean at the other side. In addition, the story at the heart of it, of Andy (Tim Robbins) and Red (Morgan Freedman)is simply a story of two men's friendship -- something seldom explored in cinema, and rarely as well. Lastly, the theme of hope echoes and throughout the film and reverberates in the viewer's minds like an aria against hard prison walls.