THE HURRICANE
A film review by Steve Rhodes
Copyright 1999 Steve Rhodes
RATING (0 TO ****):  *** 1/2

"Innocence is a highly overrated commodity," says Rubin 'Hurricane' Carter. He should know, he's spent most of his life in prison, unjustly accused. The riveting movie, THE HURRICANE, is based on Hurricane Carter's true story. Directed with loving intensity by Norman Jewison (IN THE HEAT OF THE NIGHT and A SOLDIER'S STORY) and starring Denzel Washington as Hurricane Carter, in a powerfully moving performance, the riveting movie is likely to earn them both Oscar nominations.

The script by Armyan Bernstein and Dan Gordon, based on the book "Lazarus and the Hurricane" by Sam Chaiton and Terry Swinton and the book "The 16th Round" by Carter himself, manages to tell a complex, decades-long story lucidly. Only in the middle section does the director allow his movie to meander for a bit, but he more than makes up for a slack 15 minutes or so with his rousing last act.

Cutting back and forth between timeframes, the movie tells Hurricane's story. Starting off in 1963 at the height of his career, we witness his triumphs in the boxing ring as he rises rapidly to become the welterweight champion of the world. "One thing I could do was box," he says in his book, spoken in voice-over by Washington. "I tasted my own blood, and I loved it."

The boxing matches are shot by Roger Deakins (FARGO) in high-contrast black and white, looking like they did when we watched them on television. (The rest of the movie is in color.) The mainly white, male audiences root for him like Roman senators cheering on their favorite gladiator. Carter, who won fight after fight, frequently with first round knock-outs, rarely disappoints his fans.

After we witness his success at capturing the title, we jump abruptly to 10 years later in which Carter, now a prison inmate serving three life sentences, is angry and determined. Jewison convincingly creates Carter as a black Gandhi. Carter starts off his prison stay with 90 days in the hole since he refuses to wear prison uniforms, which he feels would be admitting he was guilty.

Jewison makes the movie as much a detective story as a social commentary and biography. Cutting back to the crime scene, we witness two men, reportedly black, walk into a bar in the wee hours of the morning and murder the occupants for no obvious reason. The chances that the current world boxing champion would do this are close to zero. The police, however, led by a shifty-eyed officer (Dan Hedaya, last seen charmingly as President Nixon in DICK), try to pin the crime on Carter by tampering with evidence and witnesses. The full extent of their manipulation becomes apparent as the story advances.

When first stopped by the police, Carter just shakes his head. He and another man have just left a party at another bar. "We're looking for two Negroes in a white car," the friendly patrol officer says. "Any two will do?" Carter laughingly replies with a tinge of bitter sarcasm. He's been harassed by cops all of his life, but he's the king of the boxing world now and figures he no longer has anything to fear. Still, he resents being harassed. The situation goes from bad to worse when the police haul him into the emergency room. A semi-conscious witness with eyes full of blood is asked again and again whether Carter and his companion were the shooters. Not taking "no" for an answer, the cops press on, demanding that the witness give some sign that indicates the answer that they want.

In a part of the story that would be laughed off as ridiculously schmaltzy were it not true, four people come to Carter's aid late in his life after he has languished in prison for decades. Although the rich and famous tried to help him earlier, to no avail, three Canadian adults (Deborah Unger, John Hannah, Liev Schreiber) and one Brooklyn ghetto teenager, Lesra (Vicellous Shannon), bravely come to his rescue. The adults, who live together fixing up homes, have temporarily adopted Lesra, a bright kid whom the public schools have failed, in order to get him ready for college. For 25 cents, the first book Lesra ever buys is Carter's. This eventually sends them off on a journey of love and dedication.

Rod Steiger, who as the judge du jour seems to appear in every crime drama this year, is finally given the respect he deserves and allowed in this movie to play the part of a judge without parody.

The best stories constantly surprise us, which is certainly true of this one. One particularly effective scene has Carter, who prides himself on being a "warrior scholar," talking passionately about the power and magic of writing. Since that is my personal joy, I had this strange feeling that he speaking directly to me. Like one of those paintings in which the eyes follow only you wherever you walk, this movie speaks to each of us and contains many more messages than you might guess. A picture that can be enjoyed and appreciated on many levels, it is a stunning piece of work that deserves high praise and big box office receipts.

THE HURRICANE runs 2:30. It is rated R for language and some violence and would be fine for teenagers.

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