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.
Email: Steve.Rhodes@InternetReviews.com
Web: http://www.InternetReviews.com
Have I seen this movie: No
Will I see It: Maybe on video