Excellent acting, great suspense; pity about worn-down motifs

Rating: 8/10 (22 February 2004)

This is a very thrilling movie that kept me spellbound. The acting is first rate. Morgan Freeman is superb and so is Tim Robbins. The reason why in my opinion it only deserves 8 out of 10 rather than 9 is that the story is not that great. Anyone who has seen his or her share of prison films will have come across all the standard ingredients: brutality by the staff, abuse by fellow prisoners, corruption at the top, we have seen it all before (cf. for example Brubaker). Despite these reservations, the acting, music and direction makes up for it. An evening well spent!