The Hurricane
by Norman Jewison
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Deborah Kara Unger, Denzel Washington, John Hannah, Liev Schreiber, Vicellous Reon ShannonDirector: Norman Jewison
Brand: WASHINGTON,DENZEL
DVD: 2 Layers, Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language); French (Original Language)
Format: Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Collector's Edition, Color, Dolby, DVD-Video, NTSC, Widescreen
Picture Format: Anamorphic Widescreen, 2.35:1
Running Time: 146 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2000-07-11
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Studio: Universal Studios
Movie Reviews of The Hurricane
Movie Review: The Hurricane: A failed docudrama but a successful movie
Summary: 5 Stars
Rubin 'Hurricane' Carter had been a nonstop hurricane in the racist world of white police, disrupting the white police for more than 20 years. The Hurricane, directed by Norman Jewison in 1999, was a well made docudrama that was based on Carter's autobiography, 'The 16th Round', which was published in 1974. It was also based upon a book, 'Lazarus and the Hurricane', written by Chaiton and Swinton's, Carter's Canadian friends, published in 1991. This film, or a docudrama, tells the story of Rubin 'Hurricane' Carter, an African-American middle-weight boxer. Rubin Carter spent quite a troubled youth, mostly in prison, but he made it through to become a champion. However, Rubin Carter was accused of a murder, in 1966, and was convicted to three life prison terms. He tried very hard to prove his innocence, but his efforts were no good for 19 years. In November 8, 1985, Rubin Carter had another trial and finally won with the help of an African American boy and his Canadian friends, who read the autobiography written by Carter.
The moive, Hurricane, is a successful Hollywood film. The different scenes of the movies combine together and tells a great story of an unfortunate black boxer. However, the movie does not do a good job on accurately conveying the truth of the Rubin Carter case. It misses some important information of the case and it does not present other cases, which might have connections with the Rubin Carter case, that has also involved racism.
The movie is very well made. Rubin Carter is played by Denzel Washington, and he delivers Carter to the audience in a way that helps the audience to feel the character. This is shown especially in a scene where Carter is put in a cell for 90 days after he gets arrested as a 1966 murder. Denzel Washington performs Carter in three different moods, including anger, fear, and hopelessness. The movie itself is hightly praiseworthy with actors' realistic and excellent acting.
The movie goes back and forth in time. The very first scene is about boxing championship tournament that happened in 1963. Then it shows the scene in Trenton State Prison in 1973 with Carter being mad at the news of the police's search of his cell without particular reasons. The scene changes between these two events twice and then comes the key incident of the movie, which is the murder at the Lafayette Bar and Grill in Paterson, New Jersey. This raises the audience an interest of what happens to the main character, since it requires the audience to see the whole movie to get a sense of what the beginning scenes are all about.
The movie does not show all of Carter's early lives through himself but through another person named Lesra, an African American boy studying in Canada. Lesra reads Carter's autobiography and decides to meet Carter in prison. Carter's early life, including the reason why he goes to the Jamesburg State Home for Boys as a 12 year-old boy, his love life, and his life as a boxer, is shown as flashbacks with Denzel Washington's narrations. This is a time saving technique, because two different stories are told at the same time, the story of Carter and Lesra. It also shows the difference between Lesra and Rubin effectively; Rubin's life is full of hardships and troubles, but Lesra has a gifted life as an African American in Canada.
The movie does not have enough information of Rubin Carter case. The name, Leroy Holloway, is never mentioned in the movie, but he is considered as a person to be deeply related to the case. He was an African American owner of the Waltz Inn in Paterson. He was murdered by a white man, who had sold the Walztz Inn to Holloway, came to Holloway and murdered him because Holloway had been behind his payments. This incident only happened eight hours before the murder at 2:30 a.m. that Rubin Carter was wrongly accused of. The police assumed that it was hightly possible that the black men might had committed the second murder for the revenge.
The movie does not show the whilte police's clear reasons for Carter's arrest, but rather shows the police's act as racist. In actual history, the police had enough evidence to support their arrest of Rubin. They not only faked some of the testimony, but also found some weapons, which looked similar to the actual weapons that were used in the murder, in Rubin's car.
Although the film is not perfect as a docudrama, it is a successful Hollywood movie. The movie uses the historical facts well enough to let the audience not being aware of the incident's historical accuracy. All the scenes and the acting blend very well to produce a one great piece of art. The Hurricane could have been a great docudrama, but its failure as a docudrama makes it a praiseworthy film.
Summary of The Hurricane
In his direction of The Hurricane, veteran filmmaker Norman Jewison understands that slavish loyalty to factual detail is no guarantee of compelling screen biography. In telling the story of boxer Rubin "Hurricane" Carter--who was wrongly convicted of murder in 1967 and spent nearly two decades in jail--Jewison and his screenwriters compress time, combine characters, and rearrange events with a nonchalance that would be galling if they didn't remain honest to the core truth of Carter's ordeal. Because of that emotional integrity--and because Denzel Washington brings total conviction to his title role--The Hurricane rises above the confines of biographical fidelity to embrace higher values of courage, compassion, and ultimate justice.Jewison is woefully heavy-handed in his treatment of the fictionalized, absurdly villainous detective (Dan Hedaya) who zealously plots to keep Carter in jail, and anyone familiar with Carter's story may object to the film's simplified account. But what matters here is the shining star of hope that is Lesra (Vicellous Reon Shannon), the Brooklyn teenager who rejuvenates Carter's legal battle in the early 1980s. This surrogate father-son relationship is what revives Carter's hope for family and future, and makes The Hurricane so engrossing and emotionally effective. Lesra's real-life Canadian mentors are compressed from nine characters to three, but their efforts are superbly dramatized, and Jewison hits the small but important grace notes that make a good film even better. By its final scenes, The Hurricane conveys the rich, rewarding satisfaction of surviving a difficult but valuable journey of mind, body, and soul. --Jeff Shannon
In his direction of The Hurricane, veteran filmmaker Norman Jewison understands that slavish loyalty to factual detail is no guarantee of compelling screen biography. In telling the story of boxer Rubin "Hurricane" Carter--who was wrongly convicted of murder in 1967 and spent nearly two decades in jail--Jewison and his screenwriters compress time, combine characters, and rearrange events with a nonchalance that would be galling if they didn't remain honest to the core truth of Carter's ordeal. Because of that emotional integrity--and because Denzel Washington brings total conviction to his title role--The Hurricane rises above the confines of biographical fidelity to embrace higher values of courage, compassion, and ultimate justice.
Jewison is woefully heavy-handed in his treatment of the fictionalized, absurdly villainous detective (Dan Hedaya) who zealously plots to keep Carter in jail, and anyone familiar with Carter's story may object to the film's simplified account. But what matters here is the shining star of hope that is Lesra (Vicellous Reon Shannon), the Brooklyn teenager who rejuvenates Carter's legal battle in the early 1980s. This surrogate father-son relationship is what revives Carter's hope for family and future, and makes The Hurricane so engrossing and emotionally effective. Lesra's real-life Canadian mentors are compressed from nine characters to three, but their efforts are superbly dramatized, and Jewison hits the small but important grace notes that make a good film even better. By its final scenes, The Hurricane conveys the rich, rewarding satisfaction of surviving a difficult but valuable journey of mind, body, and soul. --Jeff Shannon
Fighter Rubin \""Hurricane\"" Carter is convicted of murder at the height of his boxing career and after 20 years in prison, four people go to extraordinary lengths to prove his innocence.
Genre: Feature Film-Drama
Rating: R
Release Date: 28-MAR-2006
Media Type: DVD
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