Tim Robbins is wealthy banker "Andy Dufresne" who finds himself sentenced to life imprisonment after his wife and her lover are found murdered. The handsome "new fish" is initially the target of the "sisters" who would use him as they would like - but he fights back and gradually establishes a friendship with prison "scrounger" Morgan Freeman ("Red"). When he overhears the beastly prison guard captain bemoaning some tax problems, he, rather riskily, volunteers to help find a tax-free solution and is soon advising pretty much the whole place - including "Warden Norton" (Bob Gunton) on all things... read the rest.
Call me obsessed, but I have watched this movie 32 times (and counting) over the past 2 decades. One may wonder why? It is because every time I watch this movie, I learn something new from it. For example, despite being such a good friend of Red, Andy never shares his plan with him. This taught me that discipline and focus is vital for success.
I can not praise enough the tight plot, direction, acting and everything. On my favorite movies list, this one certainly tops the chart.