The Hurricane (1999) Direction: Norman Jewison Cast: Denzel Washington, Vicellous Reon Shannon, Deborah Kara Unger, Liev Schreiber, John Hannah, Dan Hedaya, Debbi Morgan, Clancy Brown, Harris Yulin, David Paymer, Rod Steiger Screenplay: Armyan Bernstein and Dan Gordon; from Rubin 'Hurricane' Carter's The 16th Round, and Sam Chaiton and Terry Swinton's Lazarus and the Hurricane Oscar Movies Denzel Washington as Rubin 'Hurricane' Carter, The Hurricane Like Stanley Kramer, Norman Jewison has often been dedicated to commercial filmmaking with a socially conscious edge: labor relations in F.I.S.T.; corruption in the U.S. justice system in …And Justice for All; religious fanaticism in Agnes of God; anti-Semitism in Fiddler on the Roof; and racism in both A Soldier's Story and the Academy Award-winning In the Heat of the Night. Though never a brilliant director, Jewison has managed to imbue most of his films with at least a modicum of depth. The Hurricane, the...
- 2/15/2011
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
"The Hurricane" is the most profound movie of Norman Jewison's 36-year career. Yes, it's uneven and too long and maybe overly ambitious, but Jewison has given us a remarkable story of the human spirit and its triumph in the face of overwhelming despair.
Opening for Oscar consideration Dec. 29 and going wide Jan. 14, "The Hurricane" will be much discussed in upcoming weeks and should ride a wave of warm reviews and word-of-mouth to a solid boxoffice performance.
The story of Rubin "Hurricane" Carter is anything but obscure. His plight was memorialized by a Bob Dylan song and attracted the concern of celebrities and politicians throughout his 20-year fight for justice. But when the rallies and crowds drifted away, it remained for one young man, whose life was forever transformed by Carter, to fight for and eventually gain the man's freedom.
Carter, played by Denzel Washington in the performance of his still young career, is a boxer from Paterson, N.J., whose dreams of a middleweight championship are dashed when he is falsely accused and imprisoned for the murder of three people in a bar in 1966.
Framed by a racist cop (Dan Hedaya), Carter realizes he will survive prison only by withdrawing from the outer world and living solely in his mind and spirit. After studying everything from the law to philosophy, he writes his autobiography, "The Sixteenth Round".
Seven years after it was published, Lesra Martin Vicellous Reon Shannon), a black youth from Brooklyn living with three white social activists in Toronto, buys a copy of the book for 25 cents, the first book he has ever purchased.
Reading the book gives Lesra a sense of purpose, and he begins a correspondence with Carter. Eventually, he prevails upon the three activists Deborah Kara Unger, John Hannah, Liev Schreiber) to move to New Jersey and go over every legal brief and scrap of evidence related to Carter's case in search of new evidence. Incredibly, this tiny army of believers take Carter's case to federal court, where a sympathetic judge (Rod Steiger in a powerful supporting role) orders him released in 1985.
The film's first hour represents filmmaking at its finest. With essentially three stories to tell, Jewison and his writers, Armyan Bernstein and Dan Gordon, beautifully juggle and juxtapose each story line. Carter's boxing career and run-ins with racist white authorities, his inner struggle to survive prison and the youth's campaign to win his freedom all play off one another as we essentially view Carter's story through Lesra's eyes.
Some sequences of breathtaking artistry emerge. To cite one example, when Carter is locked up in solitary for 90 days, he starts to talk to himself. Jewison cuts from one day to the next, creating a kind of dialogue Carter has with his alter ego. In this way, the prisoner wills himself to stay sane.
Taking his character from impetuous youth to a middle-aged prison guru, Washington makes Carter a heroic figure, but one that is recognizably human. We sense the precarious balance of his life between anger and acceptance and between love and hatred.
Shannon captures the naivete, curiosity, grit and determination of a young man who totally commits himself to a cause he believes to be just.
Among the other outstanding performances are Hedaya's riveting portrait of pure, unambiguous evil and Clancy Brown's warm and sympathetic prison guard.
The film's major drawback is its inability to explain the selfless actions of the three white activists. Despite considerable screen time, we never get to know them or fully understand what drives them to abandon their lives for the sake of this one man.
The second half of the movie also drags at times. The meticulous, painstaking re-examination of a dusty old case involves much footwork and fact-checking -- not the most cinematic of material. A few trims probably would have helped. But Jewison is aiming for the kind of accumulation of detail and emotional highs and lows that only time will provide.
Ultimately, "The Hurricane" celebrates the tenacity and inner resources of the human spirit and makes one glad that these filmmakers persisted for so many years in their determination to put Carter's story on film.
THE HURRICANE
Universal Pictures
Beacon Pictures
Producers:Armyan Bernstein, John Ketcham, Norman Jewison
Director:Norman Jewison
Screenwriters:Armyan Bernstein, Dan Gordon
Based on:"The Sixteenth Round" by Rubin "Hurricane" Carter and "Lazarus and the Hurricane" by Sam Chaiton and Terry Swinton
Executive producers:Irving Azoff, Tom Rosenberg, William Teitler, Rudy Langlais, Thomas A. Bliss, Marc Abraham
Director of photography:Roger Deakins
Production designer:Philip Rosenberg
Music:Christopher Young
Co-producers:Suzann Ellis, Michael Jewison, Jon Jashni
Costume designer:Aggie Guerard Rodgers
Editor:Stephen Rivkin
Color/stereo
Cast:
Rubin "Hurricane" Carter:Denzel Washington
Lesra Martin:Vicellous Reon Shannon
Lisa Peters:Deborah Kara Unger
Terry Swinton:John Hannah
Sam Chaiton:Liev Schreiber
Vincent Della Pesca:Dan Hedaya
Myron Beldock:David Paymer
Judge Sarokin:Rod Steiger
Lt. Jimmy Williams:Clancy Brown
Leon Friedman:Harris Yulin
Mae Thelma:Debbi Morgan
Running time -- 146 minutes
MPAA rating: R...
Opening for Oscar consideration Dec. 29 and going wide Jan. 14, "The Hurricane" will be much discussed in upcoming weeks and should ride a wave of warm reviews and word-of-mouth to a solid boxoffice performance.
The story of Rubin "Hurricane" Carter is anything but obscure. His plight was memorialized by a Bob Dylan song and attracted the concern of celebrities and politicians throughout his 20-year fight for justice. But when the rallies and crowds drifted away, it remained for one young man, whose life was forever transformed by Carter, to fight for and eventually gain the man's freedom.
Carter, played by Denzel Washington in the performance of his still young career, is a boxer from Paterson, N.J., whose dreams of a middleweight championship are dashed when he is falsely accused and imprisoned for the murder of three people in a bar in 1966.
Framed by a racist cop (Dan Hedaya), Carter realizes he will survive prison only by withdrawing from the outer world and living solely in his mind and spirit. After studying everything from the law to philosophy, he writes his autobiography, "The Sixteenth Round".
Seven years after it was published, Lesra Martin Vicellous Reon Shannon), a black youth from Brooklyn living with three white social activists in Toronto, buys a copy of the book for 25 cents, the first book he has ever purchased.
Reading the book gives Lesra a sense of purpose, and he begins a correspondence with Carter. Eventually, he prevails upon the three activists Deborah Kara Unger, John Hannah, Liev Schreiber) to move to New Jersey and go over every legal brief and scrap of evidence related to Carter's case in search of new evidence. Incredibly, this tiny army of believers take Carter's case to federal court, where a sympathetic judge (Rod Steiger in a powerful supporting role) orders him released in 1985.
The film's first hour represents filmmaking at its finest. With essentially three stories to tell, Jewison and his writers, Armyan Bernstein and Dan Gordon, beautifully juggle and juxtapose each story line. Carter's boxing career and run-ins with racist white authorities, his inner struggle to survive prison and the youth's campaign to win his freedom all play off one another as we essentially view Carter's story through Lesra's eyes.
Some sequences of breathtaking artistry emerge. To cite one example, when Carter is locked up in solitary for 90 days, he starts to talk to himself. Jewison cuts from one day to the next, creating a kind of dialogue Carter has with his alter ego. In this way, the prisoner wills himself to stay sane.
Taking his character from impetuous youth to a middle-aged prison guru, Washington makes Carter a heroic figure, but one that is recognizably human. We sense the precarious balance of his life between anger and acceptance and between love and hatred.
Shannon captures the naivete, curiosity, grit and determination of a young man who totally commits himself to a cause he believes to be just.
Among the other outstanding performances are Hedaya's riveting portrait of pure, unambiguous evil and Clancy Brown's warm and sympathetic prison guard.
The film's major drawback is its inability to explain the selfless actions of the three white activists. Despite considerable screen time, we never get to know them or fully understand what drives them to abandon their lives for the sake of this one man.
The second half of the movie also drags at times. The meticulous, painstaking re-examination of a dusty old case involves much footwork and fact-checking -- not the most cinematic of material. A few trims probably would have helped. But Jewison is aiming for the kind of accumulation of detail and emotional highs and lows that only time will provide.
Ultimately, "The Hurricane" celebrates the tenacity and inner resources of the human spirit and makes one glad that these filmmakers persisted for so many years in their determination to put Carter's story on film.
THE HURRICANE
Universal Pictures
Beacon Pictures
Producers:Armyan Bernstein, John Ketcham, Norman Jewison
Director:Norman Jewison
Screenwriters:Armyan Bernstein, Dan Gordon
Based on:"The Sixteenth Round" by Rubin "Hurricane" Carter and "Lazarus and the Hurricane" by Sam Chaiton and Terry Swinton
Executive producers:Irving Azoff, Tom Rosenberg, William Teitler, Rudy Langlais, Thomas A. Bliss, Marc Abraham
Director of photography:Roger Deakins
Production designer:Philip Rosenberg
Music:Christopher Young
Co-producers:Suzann Ellis, Michael Jewison, Jon Jashni
Costume designer:Aggie Guerard Rodgers
Editor:Stephen Rivkin
Color/stereo
Cast:
Rubin "Hurricane" Carter:Denzel Washington
Lesra Martin:Vicellous Reon Shannon
Lisa Peters:Deborah Kara Unger
Terry Swinton:John Hannah
Sam Chaiton:Liev Schreiber
Vincent Della Pesca:Dan Hedaya
Myron Beldock:David Paymer
Judge Sarokin:Rod Steiger
Lt. Jimmy Williams:Clancy Brown
Leon Friedman:Harris Yulin
Mae Thelma:Debbi Morgan
Running time -- 146 minutes
MPAA rating: R...
- 12/20/1999
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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