Hurricane

Rubin "Hurricane" Carter (Denzel Washington) was a prize fighter. In 1966, he was arrested and convicted for a mass shooting at a bar in Paterson, New Jersey. Vindictive police detective Della Pesca (Dan Hedaya) has been after him since he was 11. With falsified evidence and rampant racism, Carter and his friend get locked up for 3 life terms. He sets about writing his biography which is eventually published. Then 7 years later in Toronto, student Lesra (Vicellous Reon Shannon) finds his biography in a pile of used books. He's a poor student from Brooklyn who is given a chance to study in Canada. With the biography, he starts a long journey to get Carter's release and his good name back with the help of his mentors Lisa (Deborah Kara Unger), Sam (Liev Schreiber) and Terry (John Hannah).

It's a very standard biopic from Norman Jewison. Carter's story is never in doubt. Most people would know the ending to the movie. So the tension is not that high. The investigation isn't that exciting. It's no John Grisham novel. However there is a compelling story, and a very compelling performance from Denzel Washington. He is exceptional in this as in many of his performances. There is also a nice side story of a young man who finds purpose in life.

15 years after The Hurricane came out Rubin Carter passed away still quite the symbol of what can happen when a malignant criminal justice system puts a target on your back and is determined to nail you. The Hurricane became his nickname in the boxing arena given him for the speed and accuracy of the deadly attack in the ring. He was forever Rubin Hurricane Carter even after he fought his last fight.

After his boxing career had wound down he and a friend were picked up in his home town of Patterson, New Jersey because they vaguely resembled two men who had shot up and robbed a bar and killed 3 people. On some flimsy evidence and some evidence withheld Carter and the other man went to jail and probably escaped the death penalty because it wasn't being used at the time.

Besides the background events The Hurricane mostly focuses on the events of Carter trying to clear himself and the young kid who reads the book Carter wrote while he was in prison. The best scenes in the film are Vicellous Shannon as young Lezra and Denzel Washington as Carter.

The Hurricane brought Denzel Washington one of his Oscar nominations and he will keep you riveted on the screen with his intensity. Occasionally Washington boils over, but it's the slow simmering tension he conveys as Carter that really keeps you watching. His scenes with Shannon are a great relief for him as in this kid he meets someone who believes his story and gets what he's about.

Besides Washington and Shannon, performances to watch out for are Rod Steiger as Judge Sarokin who is the federal judge who decides Carter's fate and Dan Hedaya as the incredibly vicious and racist police lieutenant who made incarcerating Carter a life's obsession.

The real Rubin Carter could not have had his story better told than be Denzel Washington in The Hurricane.

I need to warn people who watch this film, even though Denzel is a great actor who always gives a fine performance, to say the least this film needs to be taken with a grain of salt because its basically biased fiction with extensive "dramatic license". I have done some research and there are some facts you need to be aware of. First of all, Carter had an extensive criminal record, he was 29 years old when arrested for the Lafayette murders and had spent 11 of those years in confinement of some sort! The film shows him as a child rescuing a friend from a child molester and then stabbing him in self defense! Wrong! Carter actually beat a defenseless man over the head and stole his watch. He was always getting in trouble for fighting and beating up people, that was why he was sent to juvenile hall. He escaped in 1954 and spent two years in the Army (he was dismissed for unfitness after four court martials). He then went to jail for four years for assaulting and robbing three people. This film makes it look like he was pursued by a Javeat-like, bigoted detective named Della Pesca who "set him up" for the murders. There was no such person. Vincent De Simone was the real detective assigned to the case. According to all accounts he was a very nice man and an outstanding police officer who was not a racist or had anything against Carter. Also, contrary to what this film would have you believe, Carter was not unfairly robbed when he lost a decision when he fought for the title. Carter himself admitted this in an interview. Bob Dylans song The Hurricane said "they put him in a prison cell but he could have been the champion of the world". Carter lost eight of his last fifteen fights and wasn't even rated when he was arrested. In a 1964 Saturday Evening Post article Carter talked about going up to Watts and shooting cops (I could get about four or five). He owned an extensive gun collection and was feared by the people in Paterson. Is it any wonder he was considered a suspect! Like I said, this is a good film, but its just not true.

I am not going to get into details regarding how true an account this is or not. I have read a lot that seems to indicate he was guilty and others that he was innocent, both accounts seeing to contradict themselves. I guess we may never really know, but as someone who believes that racism infects a lot of society including organisations like Sporting bodies and the police I can well believe that being black would not guarantee a fair trial. However I also find it hard to believe that Mr Carter was as peaceful a person as depicted in this film. But this is down to the way the film was written and directed and in no way detracts from a truly remarkable piece of acting by Mr Denzel Washington. It seems in every part he plays, you believe that he IS that character and this film was no exception. In the boxing scenes or the prison scenes and in every scene you believe that you are watching Rubin 'The Hurricane' Carter. A truly outstanding performance.

I wasn't going to comment, but after reading some of the negative comments, I felt I must. I "waited for the video" for this movie because a movie about boxing didn't seem interesting. But that's just the thing. It's not about boxing. So if you're thinking you're going to see Raging Bull, you're not. There are a few boxing scenes, but they only serve to move the story along.

I have seen this movie more than once. The first time I was touched by the underlying theme of the movie, which was in my opinion, love conquering hate and injustice. Then I watched it again. I realized Denzel did a superb job. It WAS NOT a "typical Denzel role." He convincingly played Rubin "Hurricane" Carter, raised full of hate for and distrust of white people. When he goes to prison for the murder, he does an excellent performance showing the different personalities in his head, as well as showing how his inner spiritual journey transformed him. Any good movie shows the hero growing and changing. And Denzel again does this well towards the end of the movie, after befriending Lazarus and the Canadians. My favorite line which to me sums up the entire movie is when they're waiting to hear the judge's verdict and Rubin tells Lazarus, "Hate got me in here. But love's gonna bust me out."

I don't know much about the real Rubin Carter or the details of the case. What I found compelling about the movie was the fact that some people - be they white or black - can harbor such hatred for another person (I'm referring to Della Pesca's hatred toward Rubin). Another thing that got me was the friendship and love between Rubin and Lesra and the whole message of examining the higher principle of truth for which the law was meant to serve. It's just one of those movies that makes you think. Yeah, some of the writing is "just OK" in places, but the theme of the movie is wonderful and I think Denzel gave an Oscar worthy performance.

I gave this a 9 out of 10.