# Hurricane, The (1999)

### reviewed by
Bob Bloom

The Hurricane (1999) 3 stars out of 4. Starring Denzel Washington, Dan Hayeda and Vicellas Reon Shannon. Directed by Norman Jewison.

Norman Jewison's "The Hurricane" is like a powerful force of nature, unbridled and undisciplined.

This true story of boxer Rubin `Hurricane' Carter features an intense performance by Denzel Washington, which should garner him an Academy Award best actor nomination.

But Jewison's staging of the film is akin an undisciplined young boxer. He's a flailer instead of a fighter, always looking for the knock-out punch and forgetting to jab and feint.

It is Washington's bridled and disciplined portrayal of Carter that carries this movie. Playing a man who turns his rage and disappointment inward, he refuses to be beaten by the system.

Inside he may suffer, but outwardly he remains proud and defiant. He refuses to wear a prison uniform saying that he `won't wear the clothes of a guilty man.' His body may be incarcerated by the state, but his mind and soul remain free.

For the uninitiated Carter was a championship boxer who in 1966 was railroaded to prison for the murder of two men and a woman at a bar in Paterson, N.J.

He served more than 20 years before his conviction was overturned by a federal judge and he was released..

To simplify the plot - and the film - Jewison has created a villain, a racist detective played by Dan Hayeda who seems to have had it out for Carter since he was a kid.

Unfortunately, this weakens the movie by allowing society and the prevailing judicial system of that era off the hook and transforming the racism Carter faced into a personal one-on-one vendetta.

And director Jewison shows no subtlety in his depiction of Hayeda's Detective Della Pesca. His racism, his hatred is so apparent, so overblown that he nearly becomes a cartoonish caricature.

Yet by force of his acting skill Washington transcends the script's and Jewison's flaws. The movie crackles when he is on screen,

"The Hurricane" is two stories. The second concerns a disenfranchised black youth who lives with a group of three white Canadians in Toronto. The teen-ager, Lesra Martin (Vicellous Reon Shannon). finds a copy of Carter's autobiography at a book sale, buys it, reads it and is inspired by it.

He writes Carter and a friendship develops. He helps the bitter boxer by offering hope as he enlists his three activist guardians to help battle for Carter's freedom.

The script takes liberties with the facts in the case, trimming the number of people who fought for Carter's release. Yet it still remains a powerful document,

Young Shannon gives a fine performance as the idealistic, hero-worshipping Lesra, who with the help of his guardians has raised himself from his street-ghetto environment.

But this is Washington's movie from start to finish. He doesn't just play Rubin Carter, he becomes him in walk and talk. It is the actor's strongest performance to date in a stellar career that already has included some outstanding work - "Glory," "Philadelphia" and "A Soldier's Story," to name a few.

"The Hurricane" has its shortcomings, but the performances and subject matter compensate for its inadequacies.

Bob Bloom is the film critic at the Journal and Courier in Lafayette, IN. He can be reached by e-mail at bloom@journal-courier.com or at bobbloom@iquest.net

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