The Hurricane

The Hurricane (1999) tells the story of the boxer Rubin Carter. He was charged with a triple murder in New Jersey in 1966, convicted, and spent roughly twenty years in prison. A boy who reads the book Carter wrote inside, along with his Canadian guardians, sets out to reopen the case. Denzel Washington plays Carter and won the Golden Globe for Best Actor, with Oscar and SAG nominations. Roger Ebert called it one of his great performances. The film's most serious problem is accuracy. The journalist Alex von Tunzelmann wrote that Carter's military service, his previous criminal record and the Giardello fight are all distorted, while noting that those inaccuracies do not justify his wrongful conviction. The boxer Joey Giardello sued. The film presents their 1964 fight as a racist fix; his answer was blunt, that virtually every boxing expert then and now would say he won it. The case settled out of court with damages paid, and director Norman Jewison agreed to add a statement to the DVD affirming Giardello's ability. It cost 50 million dollars and made 74 million. It runs 146 minutes. Good for: stories of miscarried justice, Denzel Washington, and boxing. Less good for: the film alters the record noticeably and does not say so. The role of the Canadian supporters is inflated; the substantive legal work belonged to other lawyers. At 146 minutes the middle runs long.