Rating: 
Summary: Decent if unspectacular view of Rubin Carter
Review: Although possessing many factual discrepencies (something for which others have condemned it but I do not; the movie does not purport to be a documentary) and at 2 hours and 25 minutes is a tad long, I was fairly satisfied overall with the film.
The movie, through a complex but unconfusing group of flashbacks and temporal distortions quickly establishes Rubin Carter's tragic condition: wrongfully arrested, persecuted all his life, railroaded by the justice system and incarcerated in a penitentiary for the remainder of his life. Juxtaposed with Rubin's story is the story of Lesra, a black child taken to Canada by white do-gooders who becomes encaptured with the story of Rubin Carter and bonds with him. Lesra begins to communicate with and eventually meet Rubin, and along with his foster family dedicates himself to getting Rubin Carter out of prison. The white Canadians are initially mistrusted by Rubin, but he soon begins to like and respect them and they eventually compose enough evidence to propose a new trial that ultimately frees him.
As can be expected, Rubin Carter's image is polished up for the film (in reality he was booted out of the army after 4 court-martials) and no question is made of his innocence. As mentioned, the film does not pretend to be a documentary, but some aspects of it annoyed me (did a young Rubin Carter really fend off a pedophile from harassing his friend and ultimately stab the pedophile in order to save his own life?), especially the inclusion of the racist cop, Della Pesca, who pesecutes Rubin from the start of the film to the end (he was a fictitious character, so why include such an annoying plot device?), but this was on the whole a solid film. 6.5/10
Rating: 
Summary: A powerful account of injustice and long-delayed redemption
Review: Rubin Carter was wrongfully imprisoned before I was even born, and I'm sure I am one of many who first learned of his shocking case through the telling words of Bob Dylan's song "Hurricane." Dylan was one of many who believed in Carter's innocence and helped raise awareness of the gross injustice he suffered at the hands of the justice system in New Jersey. I do not know all of the facts in the actual case, but I am aware of the fact that this film does not follow the history of events exactly - it's no secret, as a disclaimer of such appears at the beginning of the movie. This is not a documentary; it's a moving tale of prejudice, corruption, and hatred ultimately defeated by love, truth, and honor; as such, it captures the heart and spirit of Carter's tragic story in the most powerful of ways.
You could call what happened to Rubin Carter a travesty of justice, yet even this term barely begins to explain Carter's plight. He was tried and convicted of the murder of three individuals in a New Jersey bar in 1967 for two reasons: he was black and he was successful. He and a fan were heading home in a white car when they were pulled over, hauled over to a murder scene they knew nothing about and then to the hospital to see if anyone could identify them as the murderers - which no one did. This did not stop the lead detective from arresting and trying them for murder - by suppressing evidence and forging documents, not to mention engineering the false testimony of quite impeachable witnesses, the police and prosecutors got their conviction. Rubin Carter's boxing career was over, and this man - who could have been the middle-weight champion of the world - found himself looking at three life sentences for a crime he did not commit.
Much of this film examines Carter's response to the crushing weight of prison and the repeated denials of his appeals over two decades (somewhat strangely, it mentions but does not dramatize the second trial he managed to get - and lose). Along the way, we flash back to the important events of Carter's childhood and early adulthood - including some of his overpowering victories in the ring. Another story converges with Carter's as the movie progresses, though. A young man from Brooklyn, who has been taken under the wing of three working partners in Toronto - who teach him to read and help him prepare for the college education he longs to have - buys Carter's autobiography at a used book sale - it's the first book he has ever bought. Reading Carter's story, young Lesra Martin feels a close connection to the man and decides to write him a letter. A friendship emerges between Carter and Martin, and eventually Martin's Toronto friends and teachers all risk their careers if not their very lives to help Carter win his release from prison. Even though you know how the story turns out, the final scenes are wondrous moments of cinematic art full of raw emotional power.
This movie does run a little long, coming in at just under two and a half hours, but you'll be so absorbed by the story you won't even realize how much time passes. Denzel Washington does a remarkable job as Ruben Carter, and the supporting cast is stellar as well. Hurricane affects you across the whole range of emotions: hatred for the crooked cops and prosecutors, disgust with those who not only feel racism but use it as a weapon to subvert justice and ruin a man, growing admiration for Carter as he deals with year upon year of incarceration, deep respect for those who risk their own livelihoods in order to open the eyes of Lady Justice, and the moving joy of hope fulfilled and the eventual triumph of good over evil. The film may not be historically accurate in all its details, but Hurricane is about as real as it gets. This is just an extraordinary motion picture.
Rating:
Summary: "And the Oscar goes to..."
Review: Well, it should've gone to Washington for his breathtaking performance in this biopic from 2000. Washington captures the very essence of the different modes of "Hurricane" Carter, a man wrongly incarcerated for a crime that he didn't commit. Washington superbly displays the various sides of this most complex man: anger, defiance, reflection, intelligence, humility, and perseverance. As others have hypothesized, Denzel's win for "Training Day" was a reward for Academy oversights for earlier tremendous performances...and his work in "The Hurricane" ranks as one of his best. Besides the work of Washington, the film benefits from marvelous turns from co-star Vicellous Reon Shannon as a young man enamored of the boxer and determined to right the wrong that has befallen Carter. The young man possesses the right amount of "wide-eyed innocence" as he confronts a man that he discovers in a long-forgotten autobiography. Who cannot be moved when man and boy share a tender moment by touching through the bars of the convict's cell??? This kid deserved a supporting acting nod, if nothing less. And a film that sports such stellar character performers as Rod Steiger, Debbi Morgan, Dan Hedaya, Harris Yulen, Clancy Brown, and David Paymer is a cut above the others. Liv Shrieber, Deborah Unger, and John Hannah are wonderful as Canadians that assist Shannon's "Lesra" as the lad works to free his friend. While there are a few slow moments, the overall film is worth viewing...and owning.
Rating: 
Summary: Consistant
Review: The story is about 15% factual. Carter was set free because of two alleged procedural errors, NOT because of new evidence. His resume was 27-12-1 - high point of his career was his 1st round TKO of former welter & middleweight champion, Emile Griffith. he didn't destroy the great Emile as depicted in the movie. The fight was stopped after 3 flash knockdowns. Griffith was never dangersouly hurt, he was caught cold & never regained his legs - due to the three knockdown rule, the fight was prematurely stopped. Carter was a rough, tough, seasoned boxer, with slightly above average power, a decent mandible & average hand/foot speed. He struggled against slick styled boxer's that were defensive gurus - movement off angles, stylists and great side-to-side movement. Carter would literally give up when outclassed in the ring - ie. the Joey Giardello and Luis Rodriguez fights. The Giardello fight is one of the key elements of the movie. In the movie, Carter pounds on Giardello for 15 rounds & then gets outrageously robbed of the decision by a racist conspiracy by boxing's powers that be. Joey Giardello - foolishly portrayed as a racist in the film - beat Carter as convincingly as Nigerian Dick Tiger did - both beat Carter like a drum. Carter's main weapon was sheer intimidation. He looked as bad (mean) as Sonny Liston, but when he was about to do battle with someone who wasn't intimidated, Carter simply had problems - not to mention he was easily outboxed. USA Today described Rubin Carter as, "A true folk hero" & a "warrior scholar" - obviously the public seemed to be buying the movies hook, line & sinker. The fact is, Carter was never a world champion and clearly lost to every upper echelon fighter he fought. Though wrongfully accused, Carter was well out the game when convicted. Unfortunately "The Hurricane" is more about artistic rape.
Rating: 
Summary: I'm Still Puking....
Review: The story of Rubin "Hurricane" Carter is one that will continue throughout the ages. A black man wrongly accused of a crime serves multiple years in prison without a worthy investigation. Because this is a true story, it makes the inspiration to create a film all the more admirable. ... Except, somewhere down the line, some greedy jerk with a penchant for turning drama in melodrama got their hands on this script (and infused the soul of that fat obnoxious little boy) and turned it into just another Hollywood Weep Fest For Those Who Do Not Understand Real Drama. Denzel Washington is amazing in this film, by the way. He deserved the Golden Globe for Best Actor. And it's not his fault that they gave him the crappiest "I love everybody" lines towards the end, or snuck cheesy sob music in there, or surrounded him by talentless and annoying actors. Thus, Denzel is the only thing worth watching. And he's not even good enough to warrant sitting through this film -- which is over-long to boot -- and that, my friends, is a shame. "Hurricane" should be taught in film schools. What Not To Do When You Have Good Material, A Great Star, And Limitless Potential. A new breed of filmmakers should examine this film. They would declare, "This is crap. It's time to make something better." Yeah, if only. In the meantime, you're stuck with this -- "Hurricane." Could've been good, but a miserable script and phony actors hammed it up to the point of low-brow comedy.
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