Simply Perfect

Good movie but grossly overrated

In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.

There have been a spate of right wing reviews of this film, all repeating the same talking points. Right wing in this case means either racist, or those determined to take down an icon among the 70s counterculture, Mr. Carter.So determined are they to take down Carter's image, they resort to easily disproved and almost trivial falsehoods. It takes quite a bit of obsessiveness to dismiss Carter's boxing career as either "failed" or "mediocre." Two pairs of reviews repeat those talking points. Anyone can easily look up that Carter was ranked third as a contender against the champion.Another falsehood is the claim that there was no all white jury, that two Black jurors were on it. This one is harder to disprove without knowing where to look. Most links require some digging. The easiest one is The Guardian's article by a lawyer for Carter. Yes, it was an all white jury. And no, Carter was not a Black Panther, the silliest of all the claims in the negative reviews.Yes, this film does have quite a few falsehoods. About the only one the negative wing reviews get right is that Carter did lose the fight featured at the film's start. Nearly all the falsehoods in the film DIMINISH, DOWNPLAY, or LESSEN the amount of racism in his case.Why would supposedly liberal Hollywood remove much of the racism Carter faced in his case? First, Hollywood is not all that liberal, not in a genuine way. Openly racist recent films like American Sniper and Green Hell show that. The film makers for The Hurricane altered the facts because the real history is pretty complicated.The film lays blame for Carter's imprisonment on one crooked racist cop. In truth, there were multiple racist cops who framed Carter. The main witness against Carter, a mob connected thief, is here shown testifying to get his sentence reduced. Actually, he was heavily bribed by police too.A whole series of attorneys for the DA's office also took part in setting up Carter. But the film makers likely thought white viewers wouldn't believe the actual massive conspiracy with over a dozen police and lawyers. So they chose to make it just one fictional man.Even the anti racist activists are diminished. The film depicts Carter's realize as coming from three "Canadians." Actually it was a vast network of dozens of supporters. The film also leaves out Carter's own violent past. Surprisingly, none of the right wing reviews mention this. Carter did have a juvenile record of assault and theft. He also had court martials while in the military. Here the film makers could have done what Dead Man Walking did, admit the main subject was a deeply flawed criminal who still got railroaded and a punishment he did not deserve.Another model the film makers could have used is the far older Birdman of Alcatraz. Burt Lancaster played real life murder Robert Stroud, one who showed himself to be reformed. (The big difference, of course, is that most evidence shows Carter was never a murderer.) Rubin Carter, despite his criminal past, did great things after being released. He headed the Ass'n in Defence of the Wrongly Accused, which helped 21 others gain their freedom. He received awards, honorary degrees, and was in great demands as a motivational speaker.But none of the right wing/racist reviews mention any of that. They also don't mention that police falsely arrested him yet again, this time falsely accusing him of dealing drugs. Hollywood doesn't mention it either. Again, white audiences might have a hard time understanding just how constant police harassment is for Blacks...and Latinos and American Indians, as I can tell from personal experience.The Hurricane is a moving film. It's a shame the film makers believed some whites wouldn't find the actual amount of racism in this case believable. Al Carroll Author of Medicine Bags and Dog Tags, Presidents' Body Count, and A Proposed New Constitution.

The noise AROUND the film and the real events can make it hard to just enjoy the film for what it is. It can put a lot of pressure on viewers who just want to enjoy a film. Once you put aside the noise, you will notice that the film makers tried to show the climate of an era that had a lot of tension between races. You might be tempted to take sides. Personally, I felt unsatisfied by the theme of the movie. I only watched it because someone said Hurricane was a hero and I wanted to make my own opinion. After watching this film, I realize I may never find the truth. If that is the case, I can judge this as a fiction story, and to me it was a poor one.

The Hurricane (1999) This is a biographical sports drama about a former middleweight boxer who was wrongly convicted for a triple murder. The film received positive reviews by audiences and critics alike, but has been criticized for inaccuracies by some. Denzel Washington plays the lead. This is one of his better roles. He received an Oscar nomination and the film received several other awards nominations. The film takes an original way in telling the story. It takes us back through the eyes of our leads and the actions of some unexpected friends who believe in his innocence. This is a story of despair and a renewal of hope in the face of a daunting journey.

"Everybody knows the fight was fixed, the poor stay poor, the rich get rich. That's how it goes. Everybody knows." - Leonard CohenNorman Jewison's "The Hurricane" stars Denzel Washington as Ruben "Hurricane" Carter, a middleweight boxing champ charged with triple murder. An all-white jury sentences Carter to life in prison. The film's second half watches as a group of Canadian activists struggle to get Carter released. The evidence used to indict him was manufactured, they claim, the African American Carter the target of racial persecution. "The Hurricane" is cartoonish and simplistic, but boasts another infectious performance by Washington. The immaculately chiselled Deborah Kara Unger is also fine in a small role. The film was based on a real life incident, and its screenplay adapted from two books, one of which was Carter's own memoir. Over the decades, Carter's case would become a cause celebre; Muhammed Ali, Ellen Burstyn, Bob Dylan and a number of other figureheads would tout his innocence. Many believe the opposite. Regardless, law and legal systems have always been inherently racist and classist. To this date, studies estimate between five to ten thousand wrongful convictions in the US per year. For a better take on this material, see Jean-Xavier de Lestrade's "Murder on a Sunday Morning".7.5/10 – Excellent in patches, but mostly conventional. Worth one viewing.