Posted by Bell Mattew
Posted on 2:39 AM
Genre: Action/Adventure/Fantasy/Animation
Starring: Anthony Hopkins, Robin Wright, Ray Winstone, John Malkovich, Brendan Gleeson, Angelina Jolie
Based on an ancient Scandinavian poem set in Denmark, Beowulf (Winstone) is a mighty hero who arrives to the aid of King Hrothgar (Hopkins) when his royal halls are being constantly plagued by a beast called Grendel. Beowulf wounds the beast without armour and with his bare hands and leaves him to scamper to his mother (Jolie) where he dies. The Danes rejoice but Grendels mother wants revenge and she attacks and kills all of Beowulf's warriors save him. Beowulf now has to finish Grendel's mother too, a task far more challenging than he ever imagined. Her beauty is astonishing and enticing, seductive and luscious, tempting and mesmerising, so much so, that any warrior would willingly give in to her. The movie has been shot on a motion capture technology where simply the motion of the act is captured on film with all other entities such as background and effects being digitally created and added. The visual aspects and special effects may not be all that stunning or ground-breaking, yet the detailing and specifications are spot-on. The movie is a reproduction of the poem with its own pieces of modifications and alterations which make it a good, interesting and action-packed piece of entertainment.
Thumbs up: Good plot execution and adaptation
Thumbs down: Weak special effects and animation
Rating: 7.3/10
Action,
Adventure,
Animation,
Fantasy,
Good Movies,
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Posted by Bell Mattew
Posted on 12:29 AM
Genre: Drama/Sports
Starring: Hillary Swank, Clint Eastwood, Morgan Freeman, Jay Baruchel
Clint Eastwood always has something special on offer and when you have Morgan Freeman and Hillary Swank on the same boat, one can expect fireworks. Boxing manager cum trainer cum gym owner Frankie Dunn (Eastwood) has a strong career record behind him and has trained lots of boxing champions. The only kind of people he doesn't train are girls and that is exactly what knocks on his door one fine morning. Maggie Fitzgerald (Swank) is a waitress who aspires to be a boxer and insists that only Frankie train him. After refusing too many times, Frankie is forced to give in after being persuaded by his friend and gym janitor Eddie (Freeman). He realises that Maggie indeed has potential and when she consistently knocks out her opponents in the first round. The movie displays the hardships of life that each of the characters is facing in the movie. Each and every one of them learn their mistakes through a different way, react in a different way and get over them in a different way. The story that appears to be slow has been crafted and executed in a fine manner which does not make it look as slow. A beautiful movie and some lovely performances make it a smooth as butter watch.
Thumbs up: Fabulous acting
Thumbs down: Maybe some more boxing action?
Rating: 8.0/10
Amazing Movies,
Drama,
Sports,
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Posted by Bell Mattew
Posted on 10:02 PM
Genre: Animation/Comedy/Adventure/Drama
Starring (voice): Ben Stiller, Chris Rock, David Schwimmer, Jada Pinkett Smith, Sacha Baron Cohen, Cedric the Entertainer, Tom McGrath
The hilarious story of four animal friends from the New York zoo who land up in Madagascar, Africa continues. Alex, the egoistic Lion (Stiller), his best friend Marty the Zebra (Rock), Melman the extra-hygienic Giraffe (Schwimmer) and Glorio the Hippo (Smith) are finally hatching a plan to leave Madagascar and go back to NYC for good. However, their make shift and tacky aircraft gives away just after the journey starts and the entire team find themselves in the heart of Africa, within the Kalahari. The four friends realised that they all came from this exact same place and Alex even meets his real parents. The challenge comes when Alex has to prove he is a true lion by engaging another lion in combat and securing a place for himself in the pride. For someone who always been a performance lion and never knew how to fight, Alex has a difficult task ahead of him. The first part of the movie was an ultimate laugh-riot with King Julian (Cohen) stealing the show along with Skipper the Penguin (McGrath) and his team of dim-witted side-kicks. The movie does not entirely fail to live up to expectations but is not exactly as funny either. King Julian and Skipper still entertain but the entire comedy rests solely on their shoulders with almost no support coming from any other character. A good family entertainer and is still worth the watch.
Thumbs up: King Julian all the way
Thumbs down: Not as funny as the earlier movie
Rating: 6.7/10
Adventure,
Animation,
Comedy,
Drama,
Good Movies,
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Posted by Bell Mattew
Posted on 1:39 AM
Genre: Crime/Drama/Action/Mystery
Starring: Jason Statham, Ray Liotta, Vincent Pastore, Andre Benjamin, Terence Maynard
Ego is something which we cannot live with; we all want to win it, build it, garner it and do exactly what it tells you to do. Jake Green (Statham) is a conman who specialises in gaining your confidence and eventually conning you. He served seven years in prison in solitary confinement where his neighbours was a master conman and the other, a chess master. The chess master and the conman used to communicate with each other by writing at the back of books on quantum mechanics along with their secret formulas to success. Jake intercepts and learns of these formulas which can be applied to any game to make the player win against any opponent under any situation. When Jake gets out of prison he uses this formula in casinos to quickly make a lot of money and earn himself a reputation of being unbeatable. Dorothy Macha (Liotta) is a crooked casino owner who had once forced Jake to play on his behalf. When all of Jake's winnings mysteriously disappeared, Macha framed him and sent him to prison. Now Jake wants revenge but two loan sharks, Avi (Benjamin) and Zach (Pastore) tell him that he suffers from a rare blood disease due to which he would die in three days. They offer to protect him and help him survive for as long as he can in return of all of Jake's money. The movie starts on an extremely promising note and with the reputation of Guy Ritchie riding on it along with Jason Statham, one definitely expects fireworks. However, the movie focuses deeply on ego, greed, power and over-riding the inner thoughts. It gets highly philosophical and starts to represent a very emotion-laden art movie. Its just the end and the philosophical nature of an otherwise good movie that does not make it worth the watch.
Thumbs up: Good promising start, good performances
Thumbs down: Complicated plot, bad ending
Rating: 5.8/10
Action,
Average Movies,
Crime,
Drama,
Mystery,
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Posted by Bell Mattew
Posted on 12:45 AM
Genre: Comedy/Drama/Romance
Starring: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Zoey Deschanel, Geoffrey Arend
Summer Finn (Deschanel) is the average next door girl with average looks and an almost average personality. Yet, there is something inside her that attracts each and everyone around her. Whatever she does and wherever she goes, there is always a mass of people doing the exact same thing behind her. Tom (Gordon-Levitt) is an architect who is working as a cartoonist in a greeting card manufacturing company. When Summer joins the company as the bosses assistant, Tom falls in love. Summer and Tom get along as good friends and things start to progress rapidly when suddenly Summer mentions that she is not looking at anything serious but its too late since Tom already is. The movie might appear to be the average run-of-the-mill love story but it actually isn't. Its less of a fictional romance and more of a practical love story which almost every other person experiences. Even though the plot might not be as interesting, the form in which the movie is narrated with the constant back and forth in time has made it unique and interesting. Its this back-and-forth formula which can blow your mind away and the vast effort that might have gone behind it to give a positive outcome should be appreciated. Good performances coupled with a good plot execution has made this a great movie for lovers to watch together.
Thumbs up: Great way of narrating a plot
Thumbs down: Average storyline
Rating: 7.3/10
Comedy,
Drama,
Good Movies,
Romance,
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Posted by Bell Mattew
Posted on 5:17 AM
Genre: Crime/Action/Drama
Starring: Ajay Devgn, Kajal Agarwal, Prakash Raj, Sonali Kulkarni
Corruption and crime are known to influence Indian politics, so much so that if an honest person tries to wipe it clean, he would get wiped clean. Bajirao Singham (Devgn) is an honest police inspector in a small town of Goa. Jaykant Shikre (Raj) is a notorious crook known for extortion, murder, money laundering and the likes. He is ordered by court to report to a specific police station every few days and mark his attendance. That very police station which is under the authority of Bajirao Singham. Shikre disregards the law and tries to send a nominee on his behalf, much to the ire of Singham who demands that Shikre himself appear. This does not go down well with him and enmity sparks with each side swearing to take down the other. Singham later learns of inspector Rakesh Kadam who shot himself because he too was a good cop and wanted to expose Shikre but was unable to do so. His wife Megha (Kulkarni) approaches Singham and demands justice for her dead husband. The lion is out in the forest to hunt for the dear and when the lion goes hunting, he never returns empty-handed. The movie is filled with the angry Devgn smashing everything that comes in his way. Over-the-top action sequences are rampant throughout the movie which is what makes it hugely interesting. The only let downs was the forced romance angle that was added and the not-so-climaxing climax scene. All in all, a great action movie and a must watch for die hard fans.
Thumbs up: Good performances, entertaining action
Thumbs down: Forced romance and drama sequences that breaks the movies momentum
Rating: 7.2/10
Action,
Bollywood,
Crime,
Drama,
Good Movies,
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Posted by Bell Mattew
Posted on 3:05 PM
Genre: Comedy/Crime/Drama
Starring: Damian Alcazar, Pedro Armendariz Jr., Alex Cox, Leticia Huijara, Eduardo Lopez Rojas, Isela Vega, Salvador Sanchez
English title: Herod's Law. The Mexican PRI political party was notorious for its corrupt party members and shady dealings. Lopez (Armendariz Jr.) a PRI party leader appoints a janitor Juan Vargas (Alcazar) as the Mayor of a run-down Mexican village after its previous Mayor was murdered by locals due to his corrupt dealings. Lopez wanted someone stupid and insignificant to run the post until the new elections came so that the party does not lose ground. Juan is over-joyed that he has finally managed to taste success but his joy soon evaporates after he sees the dismal condition of the town. He tries hard to stay away from corruption and wrong-doings and tries to take the honest path in turning the town around. He soon realises that its a job that is not going to be very easy without the power of money and the force of a pistol. The movie has a very interesting start and promises a good two hours of entertainment. Juan's tireless struggle is definitely fun to watch but after a while can feel a little dragged. The genre takes a sudden twist around the half-way mark and it sheds the comic for crime and murder, a shift which seemed a bit too drastic and sudden. Fabulous performances and all in a all a nice neat watch.
Thumbs up: Great performances, good story
Thumbs down: Sudden shift of genre
Rating: 7.3/10
Comedy,
Crime,
Drama,
Good Movies,
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Posted by Bell Mattew
Posted on 6:23 AM
Genre: Action/Crime/Romance/Drama
Starring: Salman Khan, Kareena Kapoor, Raj Babbar, Reema Debnath, Rajat Rawail, Rose Dawn, Asrani
Every actor has its own panache which makes him/her different from the crowd and can manage to create a niche for themselves. Salman Khan is one such man whose rapidly swelling fan-following comprises of those individuals who love his over-the-top aggressive attitude, slapstick humour and unrealistic action. This character or style may not be loved by all but it is the image the actor has created. Bodyguard Lovely Singh (Khan) has owned himself a name for being the most safest man to be around you. Single-handily thrashing twenty goons, jumping off running trains, throwing people six feet in the air is no big deal for this macho man. Sartaj Rana (Babbar) is a rich elite man who once saved Lovely's life when he was a child and as a mark of respect, Lovely diligently works for him whenever the need be. Divya (Kapoor) the daughter of Sartaj is going to university and Sartaj's enemies are plotting to attack her in order to get even with him. Lovely has been appointed as Divya's bodyguard and must follow her everywhere she goes, much to her despise. Divya hatches a plan to get Lovely off her back, a plan that would later have disastrous consequences. If one simply accepts Salman the way he is, the movie is actually quite entertaining to watch. The last 45 minutes seemed dragged and a last minute addition to an otherwise decently evolving plot line. The biggest let down in Salman's character was the lack of any interesting action sequences. All the action seemed like the same punches, jumps, kicks and throws with no interesting variations. That coupled with the end scene was probably the only two things that pulled an otherwise decent movie.
Thumbs up: The macho Salman and his flamboyant attitude
Thumbs down: Uninteresting action and poorly developed ending
Rating: 6.3/10
Action,
Average Movies,
Bollywood,
Crime,
Drama,
Romance,
{[['
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Posted by Bell Mattew
Posted on 9:18 AM
Genre: Crime/Comedy/Drama
Starring: Naseeruddin Shah, Ravi Baswani, Satish Shah, Om Puri, Pankaj Kapur, Satish Kaushik, Neena Gupta, Deepak Qazir, Bhakti Barve
The classic Indian laugh-riot lives till this day and is loved by many; for a very valid reason. Vinod (Naseeruddin Shah) and Sudhir (Baswani) are two friends who have decided to open a photo studio. Business is not going very well for them despite all their crazy attempts at garnering business. Mr. Tarneja (Kapur) is a rich and influential industrialist who bribes government officers to twist the law in his favour. He is trying to secure a deal to construct flyovers across Mumbai city by bribing the Municipal Commissioner, Mr. D'Mello (Satish Shah) to hand over the contract to his company. Shobha Sen (Barve) is the editor of Khabardaar magazine and has got wind of Tarneja and his doings and wishes to put him behind bars once and for all. She hires Vinod and Sudhir to spy on the meeting and take photographs as evidence. Mr. Ahuja (Puri) is Tarneja's rival who too wishes to secure the flyover contract and offers a double bribe. Tarneja is furious when he doesn't get the deal and decides to murder D'Mello and make his confidant the new Muncipal Commissioner. Vinod and Sudhir stumble upon some evidence of D'Mello's murder and decide to find and excavate his body and put Tarneja behind bars. Tarneja gets wind of Vinod and Sudhir's attempts and tries to save his skin by destroying the evidence, Shoba wants to blackmail Tarneja with the evidence and earn money, Ahuja wants to deface Tarneja by exposing the evidence. Each with their own motive are on a cock and bull chase to take D'Mello's dead body and fulfill their ambitions. The movie might not come across as being technically sound and one can easily find multiple loopholes and flaws. The only thing that makes the movie stand out is the 'Mahabharat' scene right at the end which can make you roll over in laughter. That is probably the only reason why people love and watch this movie so much and the reason why you should be watching it too.
Thumbs up: Mahabharat scene
Thumbs down: Loosely made, lacks consistent humour
Rating: 6.9/10
Bollywood,
Comedy,
Crime,
Drama,
Good Movies,
{[['
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Posted by Bell Mattew
Posted on 7:27 AM
Genre: History/Biography/War/Action/Adventure
Starring: Clive Owen, Ioan Gruffudd, Mads Mikkelsen, Joel Edgerton, Hugh Dancy, Ray Winstone, Ray Stevenson, Keira Knightly, Stephen Dillaine, Stellan Skarsgard
King Arthur (Owen) was a legendary hero that served the cause of the Britons. The genuineness of Arthur is unknown with many people attributing it to be based on the story of other unknown heroes. The Roman Empire covered most of Europe and stretched till Hadrian's Wall, a border that divides modern England and Scotland. This wall is guarded by Arthur and his elite knights with rumours having that they have never lost a battle. The knights are Roman by birth and loyal to Rome and are due to receive their freedom from active military service when Rome suddenly backs out on its initial agreement and orders Arthur and his knights to undertake one last perilous journey, to go north of the wall and rescue an important Roman family from being captured by the invading Saxons. The Saxons, headed by Cerdic (Skarsgard) were a barbaric tribe who wish to denounce the Romans out of their land. The knights reluctantly agree to undertake the mission in order to win their much awaited freedom. On the face of it, the plot looks much like any other medieval war movie of good being victorious over evil. The lines and dialogues are very typically over-dramatic, almost Shakespearean which makes the movie a tad boring and annoying. True, that might have been the prevailing language and style used but its over-emphasis and extra usage is what makes it annoying. Nothing exceptional in this one but nothing too bad either.
Thumbs up: Good gripping climaxes and war scenes
Thumbs down: Boring dialogues and lines
Rating: 6.9/10
Action,
Adventure,
Biography,
Good Movies,
Historical Event,
War,
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Posted by Bell Mattew
Posted on 6:51 AM
Genre: Comedy/Crime/Action/Fantasy
Starring: Jim Carrey, Cameron Diaz, Peter Riegert, Peter Greene
Bright-coloured suits, over-the-top acting, slapstick humour, irritatingly stupid and laugh out loud funny, that is how you describe Jim Carrey. The Mask defines Carrey's every acting style and the role seems to be perfectly tailor-made for him. Stanley Ipkiss (Carrey) is a bank clerk who receives a hot and sexy new client Tina Carlyle (Diaz) who wants to open a new account. In reality, Tina is working for Dorian (Greene) one of the cities top criminals who is scouting the bank and is hatching a plot to rob it. On a night when everything seems to be going bad, Stan stumbles upon The Mask and discovers its unique powers. The Mask converts a person into a green-faced individual and makes that person everything they always wanted to be but never could be. Stan turns into a goofy, funny, cartoon-ish and over-romantic guy and decides to go around town getting some revenge. The movie stands for epic Jim Carrey humour, and is outrageously funny. Sure, the slapstick and stupid comedy may not appeal to all but there is no denying that the movie is a really amazing watch. Somebody stop him!
Thumbs up: Jim Carrey's nonsense all the way
Thumbs down: The kind of humour that all may not appreciate
Rating: 7.4/10
Action,
Comedy,
Crime,
Fantasy,
Good Movies,
{[['
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Posted by Bell Mattew
Posted on 5:01 AM
Genre: Action/Crime/History/Biography/War/Drama
Starring: Dominic Cooper, Ludivine Sagnier, Raad Rawi, Philip Quast
Every world-renowned leader had to look after his own life and the best way to do so was to have body doubles. Exact twins right up to every small feature in order to deceive assassins. Uday Saddam Hussein (Cooper), the son of the Iraqi dictator too created body doubles to save his own precious life. Latif Yahia (Cooper) an Iraqi soldier and Uday's classmate back in school was forced to accept the proposition to become Uday's double. Uday Hussein was perhaps the most arrogant, shameless, immature and perverted person in all of Iraq. He kept multiple women as servants and slept with whomsoever he wished, regularly shot and killed people simply for the fun of it and raped and murdered school girls because he fancied doing it. Sarrab (Sagneir) one of Uday's whores, took a fancy for Latif and they both together shared their hatred for Uday and his behaviour. The movie solely stands on Dominic Cooper and his astounding, perfect and fine piece of acting. He fulfills two roles out of which one role is to play the part of learning how to play the other role.This precise combination is what should have won him accolades and awards. Its just what the doctor ordered for, my bet for at least one Oscar nominee this year.
Thumbs up: Dominic Cooper
Thumbs down: Story could be slightly more vibrant, its just too simple
Rating: 8.2/10
Action,
Amazing Movies,
Biography,
Crime,
Drama,
Historical Event,
War,
{[['
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Posted by Bell Mattew
Posted on 6:57 AM
Genre: Science-fiction/Action/Drama
Starring: James Franco, Frieda Pinto, John Lithgow, David Oyelowo
As the name suggests, this movies comes as a prequel to the 1968 original Planet of the Apes series of movies, although the movie is not the genuine prequel to the original series and only supposes what could be the beginning. Will Rodman (Franco) is a medical scientist working for a drug manufacturing company looking for a cure to Alzheimer's disease. Will develops a drug and tests it on a chimpanzee and is amazed to find the form in which the drug boosts the mental capability of the animal. The chimpanzee, Bright Eyes, is accidentally killed and leaves behind a young child that Will raises and decides to take care of. The drug gets passed on to young Caesar, who soon grows up to become a very smart chimpanzee. Will decides to try the drug on his dying father (Lithgow) and obtains marvelous results. He meets and falls in love with Caroline (Pinto) a vet and just as everything was going good, the adverse effects of the drug started creeping up. The movie starts with a very interesting bang but unfortunately progress is extremely slow with too much focus on the growth of Caesar and the development of the drug. The stunts and actions being performed by the chimpanzees is outrageous and unbelievable; it seems more like an ape version of James Bond. Although I haven't seen the original Planet of the Apes series, I am told that this movie does not come even close in matching the classic.
Thumbs up: Graphics and special effects
Thumbs down: Over-the-top action especially for a monkey
Rating: 7.0/10
Action,
Drama,
Good Movies,
Science-fiction,
{[['
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Posted by Bell Mattew
Posted on 6:26 AM
Genre: Comedy/Crime/Drama/Romance/Adventure
Starring: Rachel Weisz, Adrien Brody, Mark Ruffalo, Rinko Kikuchi, Robbie Coltrane
Bloom (Brody) and Stephen (Ruffalo) are brothers with Stephen being the elder one. Since kids, the two have been orphans getting thrown out of every house they get adopted in for misbehaviour. Stephen made stories which were acted out by his brother and in this process they started to con people and soon became con men. Years later, the adult Bloom realises that Stephen and his stories control his life and he has no freedom or say in anything to do with himself and hence decides to quit. Stephen gets a new sidekick Bang Bang (Kikuchi) an Oriental girl who knows little English and wants Bloom to come back for one last con. He introduces him to Penelope (Weisz) a very rich, lonely and single girl who has lived in solitary confinement for most of her life and knows no one beyond the boundaries of her house. Bloom, as per the con, is to befriend her and the two brothers plan to swindle her wealth until Bloom falls in love. The movie has a very promising start with the two brothers being con men and you hope to see an interesting plot development. Sadly, the movie moves at a very slow place and there comes a point where the cons seem impractical, hard to believe and just outrageous. Perhaps if the cons were made more interesting with a better twist, it might have been able to improve things. Its not your regular con movie but its nothing exceptional either.
Thumbs up: Good performances
Thumbs down: Slow plot, unrealistic
Rating: 6.6/10
Adventure,
Comedy,
Crime,
Drama,
Good Movies,
Romance,
{[['
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Posted by Bell Mattew
Posted on 8:02 AM
Genre: Comedy/Action/Crime/Romance/Drama
Starring: Aamir Khan, Salman Khan, Raveena Tandon, Karishma Kapoor, Shakti Kapoor, Paresh Rawal, Viju Khote, Shehzad Khan
The epic laugh riot movie of Indian cinema is still loved and watched by young and old to this day. The comedy of errors of Amar (Aamir Khan) and Prem (Salman Khan) both in pursuit of charming Raveena (Tandon) a young and beautiful girl who is looking for a smart young man to fall in love with and marry. Amar and Prem, the two good for nothing Casanova's want to marry her for the money and are at constant war to outdo the other in winning Raveena's heart. Meanwhile, Teja (Rawal) a criminal who just got out of jail wants to get even with his twin brother Ram Gopal Bajaj (Rawal) who is also the father of Raveena. Along with his two stupid side kicks, he tries to kidnap Raveena but in vain. Enter Crime Master Gogo (Shakti Kapoor), a failed and idiotic criminal who is continuing the 'family business' of looting and plundering. The movie enjoys a cult following with many dialogues and moves becoming epic statements today. The performances may seem to be extremely over-acted but that was more or less the norm of those days and to some extent the movie becomes enjoyable simply due to the over-the-top acting. The movie plays tributes and jokes about many other famous Bollywood movies throughout. Funny and an amazing stress buster.
Thumbs up: Awesome laugh riot
Thumbs down: Hugely over-acted
Rating: 7.3/10
Action,
Bollywood,
Comedy,
Crime,
Drama,
Good Movies,
Romance,
{[['
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Posted by Bell Mattew
Posted on 1:29 PM
Genre: Crime/Drama
Starring: Tim Robbins, Morgan Freeman, Bob Gunton, William Sadler, Clancy Brown
Touted as one of the worlds most epic movie, it truly deserves all the praise people shower upon it. Narrating the story of Andy Dufresne (Robbins), an investment bank's Vice-President who gets convicted for murdering his cheating wife and lover, the movie displays determination, commitment and the hardships of prison life. Red (Freeman) is the prison smuggler and trader and can get you almost anything and everything you want. Red and Andy soon become good friends and Red realises that Andy is not the average prison in-mate. Andy soon garners respect with the warden, Mr. Norton (Gunton) and starts keeping his accounts, files tax returns for all the prison guards and initiates to revamp the prison library. The movie may have a very simple and easy story but its the entire plot execution and eventual twist in the tale that steals the show. Half-way through the movie might just seem to be a slight drag but this eventually moves on to something far more interesting. A fine movie that displays the harvest of hard-work, patience and perseverance and a must-watch movie for each and everyone.
Thumbs up: Amazing performance, very good plot execution
Thumbs down: Just a bit slow at the half-way mark
Rating: 9.3/10
Adventure,
Amazing Movies,
Crime,
Drama,
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