Cast
Rubin "Hurricane" Carter (Denzel Washington)
Lesera Martin (Vicellous Reon Shannon)
Lisa (Deborah Kara Unger)
Sam Chaiton (Liev Schreiber)
Terry Swinton (John Hannah)
Judge Sarokin (Rod Steiger)
Detective Vincent Della Pesca (Dan Hedeya)

Directed by Norman Jewison Written by Armyan Bernstein, Christopher Cleveland and Dan Gordon
Rated R for language and some violence Running Time: 146 minutes Distributed by Universal

The Hurricane is a good, but very melodramatic movie. The Hurricane is the real life story of 60's boxer Rubin "Hurricane" Carter's (Washington) fight against wrongful imprisonment, racism, and hate. In 1966, Rubin Carter was a strong contender for the middleweight boxing title. However, when three people were murdered in a bar, Carter's dreams were destroyed. Driving home from a nearby club, Carter was erroneously arrested for the murders and was then sentenced to life in prison. Years later, Carter publishes a memoir, The 16th Round. The book inspires a young Brooklyn teenager, Lesera (Shannon) and three Canadian activists, who all believe the truth, to join forces with Carter to try and prove his innocence.

The Hurricane is an entertaining film, but many irritating situations that were added really end up hurting the film.

The three writers of The Hurricane, Armyan Bernstien, Christopher Cleveland and Dan Gordon did add a lot of untruthful aspects, and the writers also loose the time of the film. An example is that the relationship between Carter and the Canadians lasted a decade, and the script makes it seem like months. An example of the weak melodrama is when a hatred cop vulguraly threatens the three activists for helping Carter. This scene was irrelevant and should not have even been thought of.

Norman Jewison's direction is sufficient, but not complete. I liked the way Jewison blended in black and white visuals with full throttle boxing scenes in The Hurricane. However, Jewison doesn't reflect the aging of some of the characters in the film. As I have said before, the time in which the three Canadians and Lesera spend fighting for Carter's innocence takes a decade. Carter does age and get old, but the other four look the same from the beginning to the end. This aspect could also be blamed on the script, but the director should of spotted it and made adjustments.

Denzel Washington is at his best as Rubin "Hurricane" Carter. Washington is intense and inspiring with the true-life character that he portrays. The rest of the cast is suitable for the film and does a pretty good job behind the forceful performance by Denzel Washington.

The Hurricane is a film that will make money because of its inspiring story and true character. Washington will also draw an audience of his own, it is worth paying just to see him perform.

Even though the film is somewhat incomplete with writing and direction, the movie is enjoyable.

Report Card Grade: B-

Beastman's Movie Reviews