"Remember that hope is a good thing, Red, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies."

Rating: 10/10 (7 October 2013)

An amazing movie. Easily one of the best movies made during the 90s and definitely one of the top 'prison' movies of all-time. Pretty much everything about this movie works and works extremely well!
Freeman, who is simply a great actor, a man who has never struck a false note in his career, both narrates this tale and anchors it with his authoritative playing..
Based on a short novel by Stephen King, "Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption," the movie is as much a fantasy as any of King's horror stories, yet thanks to screenwriter and director Frank Darabont, there isn't a moment we don't want to believe in. Darabont uniquely blends humor and violence, sweetness and brutality, in what may be the best "feel-good" movie of the last twenty years. Ultimately, it is a story of hope and triumph, a tribute to Man's ability to overcome all odds. Andy never fails to astound us with his courage and cunning. He manages to ingratiate himself with the guards when he begins doing their tax returns and with the inmates when he helps build the finest prison library in Maine. (And managing to get them a cold beer on a hot day doesn't hurt, either.) Andy's final surprise, though, is his best, and it is enough to encourage even old Red to face the real world. .