The Hurricane is a 1999 American biographical sports drama film directed and produced by Norman Jewison. The film stars Denzel Washington as Rubin The Hurricane Carter, a former middleweight boxer who was wrongly convicted for a triple murder in a bar in Paterson, New Jersey. The script was adapted by Armyan Bernstein and Dan Gordon from Carter s 1974 autobiography The Sixteenth Round: From Number 1 Contender To 45472 and the 1991 non-fiction work Lazarus and the Hurricane: The Freeing of Rubin The Hurricane Carter by Sam Chaiton and Terry Swinton.

The film depicts Carter s arrest, his life in prison and how he was freed by the love and compassion of a teenager from Brooklyn named Lesra Martin and his Canadian foster family. The film received positive reviews and won several awards, including a Golden Globe for Best Actor for Washington s performance. Washington was also nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor.

The film was released by Universal Pictures in the United States on December 29, 1999. It grossed $74 million against a budget of $50 million.

Plot

The film tells the story of middleweight boxer Rubin The Hurricane Carter, who was wrongfully convicted of committing a triple murder in a bar in Paterson, New Jersey. His sentence was set aside after he had spent nearly 20 years in prison. The film concentrates on Rubin Carter s life between 1966 and 1985. It describes his fight against the conviction for triple murder and how he copes with nearly 20 years in prison.

A parallel plot follows Lesra Martin, an underprivileged Afro-American youth from Brooklyn, now living in Toronto. In the 1980s, the child becomes interested in Carter s life and circumstances after reading Carter s autobiography. He convinces his Canadian foster family to commit themselves to Carter s case. The story culminates with Carter s legal team s successful pleas to Judge H. Lee Sarokin of the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey.

In 1966, Rubin The Hurricane Carter was a top-ranked middleweight boxer, expected by many fans to become the world s greatest boxing champion. When three victims, specifically the club s bartender and a male and a female customer, were shot to death in a bar in Paterson, New Jersey, Carter and his friend John Artis, driving home from another club in Paterson, were stopped and interrogated by the police.

Although the police asserted that Carter and Artis were innocent and thus, were never suspects, a man named Alfred Bello, a suspect himself in the killings, claimed that Carter and Artis were present at the time of the murders. On the basis of Bello s testimony, Carter and Artis were convicted of the triple homicide in the club, and Carter was given three consecutive life sentences.

Throughout the trial, Carter proclaimed his innocence, claiming that his race, his boxing career and status and his work as a civil rights activist were the real reasons for his conviction. Eight years later, Bello and a co-suspect, Arthur Bradley, who also claimed that Carter was present at the scene of the crimes, renounced and recanted their testimony. However, Carter and Artis were convicted once again.

Afterwards, the plot goes back to Lesra Martin, who works with a trio of Canadian activists to push the State of New Jersey to reexamine Carter s case.

In 1985, a Federal District Court ruled that the prosecution in Carter s second trial committed grave constitutional violations and that his conviction was based on racism rather than facts. As a result, Carter and later Artis were finally freed. Outside following the verdict, Carter summed up his story by saying, Hate got me into this place, love got me out.

Cast

• Denzel Washington as Rubin The Hurricane Carter
• Vicellous Reon Shannon as Lesra Martin
• Deborah Kara Unger as Lisa Peters
• Liev Schreiber as Sam Chaiton
• John Hannah as Terry Swinton
• Dan Hedaya as Sergeant Della Pesca, based on Vincent DeSimone
• Debbi Morgan as Mae Thelma Carter
• Clancy Brown as Lieutenant Jimmy Williams
• David Paymer as Myron Beldock
• Harris Yulin as Leon Friedman
• Rod Steiger as Judge H. Lee Sarokin
• Vincent Pastore as Alfred Bello
• George T. Odom as Ed Big Ed
• Beatrice Winde as Louise Cockersham
• Badja Djola as Mobutu

Production

Background

Norman Jewison became interested in a Hurricane Carter biopic in 1992. Armyan Bernstein purchased the filming rights through Beacon Pictures, and went on to write the first scripts while establishing a financing partnership with Irving Azoff. At first, Jewison felt the story was so extensive that it would fit better as a television miniseries.

Once Denzel Washington signed to play the title character, he went through long boxing training, and worked closely with Rubin Carter. Washington said, He went through pots and pots of coffee and packs of cigarettes. I d drink a little coffee. It s interesting and challenging when the person is there, alive and in the room.

Filming began in November 1998, with locations in both New Jersey – East Jersey State Prison in Trenton and the cities of Avenel and Paterson – and Toronto.

Soundtrack

The Hurricane Soundtrack
Soundtrack album by Various Artists
Released	January 11, 2000
Recorded	1999
Genre	R&B, soul, hip hop, pop rock, jazz
Label	MCA

#	Title	Performer(s)	Writer(s)	Length
1	Hurricane	The Roots featuring Black Thought, Common, Mos Def, Dice Raw, Flo Brown and the Jazzyfatnastees	Tariq Trotter, Tracey Moore, Mercedes Martinez, Karl Jenkins, Lonnie Common Lynn, Dante Mos Def Smith, Falana Brown, Scott Storch	5:39
2	Little Brother	Black Star		4:01
3	Love Sets You Free	Kelly Price and Aaron Hall		4:06
4	I Don t Know	The Jazzyfatnastees		3:19
5	Isolation	Meshell Ndegeocello		4:57
6	The Revolution Will Not Be Televised	Gil Scott-Heron	Heron	3:05
7	One More Mountain (Free Again)	K-Ci & JoJo	Diane Warren	3:41
8	Hurricane	Bob Dylan	Dylan, Jacques Levy	8:33
9	Hard Times (No One Knows Better Than I)	Ray Charles	Charles	2:55
10	In The Basement part 1	Etta James	Billy Davis, Raynard Miner, Carl Smith	2:22
11	Still I Rise	Melky Sedeck		4:15
12	I Don t Know	Ruth Brown	Brook Benton, Bobby Stevenson	2:53
13	So Amazing	Clark Anderson	Anderson, Summer Anderson	4:32
14	The Suite	Christopher Young	Young	7:18

Release

Premiere

The Hurricane premiered on September 17, 1999, at the Toronto International Film Festival. It also was featured at the Berlin International Film Festival on February 17, 2000.

Two weeks prior to its opening in North America, a premiere for The Hurricane was held at the Mann Village Theater in Los Angeles. Many of the depicted people were in attendance. When asked about being portrayed by Denzel Washington, Rubin Carter replied that “I didn’t know I was that good-looking. The film was praised by Lesra Martin, who described it as a stupendous depiction of accurate events , and John Artis, Carter s friend who was convicted with him, said he “was in awe to see what unfolded and not have to feel the pressure I felt at the time.” An objection was held by H. Lee Sarokin, the federal judge who freed Carter, saying that unlike his portrayal by Rod Steiger “I’m a lower-key guy.”

Box office

The film opened in North American limited release on December 29, 1999. The first week s gross was $384,640 (11 screens) and the total receipts for the run were $50,668,906. In its widest release the film was featured in 2,148 theaters. It closed the week of April 14, 2000. The motion picture was in circulation sixteen weeks.

Critical response

The Hurricane has an 83% approval rating at Rotten Tomatoes based on 113 reviews. The consensus reads: Thanks in large part to one of Denzel Washington s most powerful on-screen performances, The Hurricane is a moving, inspirational sports drama, even if it takes few risks in telling its story. Roger Ebert, film critic for the Chicago Sun Times, liked the film and the acting, and wrote, This is one of Denzel Washington s great performances, on a par with his work in Malcolm X…. Washington as Hurricane Carter is spare, focused, filled with anger and pride…. This is strong stuff, and I was amazed, after feeling some impatience in the earlier reaches of the film, to find myself so deeply absorbed in its second and third acts, until at the end I was blinking at tears. What affects me emotionally at the movies is never sadness, but goodness. Metacritic gave the score a film of 74 based on 30 reviews, indicating generally favorable reviews .

Ebert discussed his perspective on the fictionalized aspects of the film: Several people have told me dubiously that they heard the movie was fictionalized . Well, of course it was. Those who seek the truth about a man from the film of his life might as well seek it from his loving grandmother. Most biopics, like most grandmothers, see the good in a man and demonize his enemies. They pass silently over his imprudent romances. In dramatizing his victories, they simplify them. And they provide the best roles to the most interesting characters. If they didn t, we wouldn t pay to see them. He added, The Hurricane is not a documentary but a parable, in which two lives are saved by the power of the written word.

Film critic Stephen Holden, writing for The New York Times, had mixed views of the film but praised the acting. He wrote: In telling the story of Mr. Carter s protracted and ultimately successful fight for freedom and justice, The Hurricane rides to glory on an astonishing performance by Denzel Washington…. That is to say, Mr. Washington leans into an otherwise schlocky movie and slams it out of the ballpark. If his Hurricane is an inspiring portrait of nobility, it is because the actor never conceals the demons of fury and despair gnawing beneath his character s forcefully articulate surface.

Holden was forthright about the veracity of the film, writing, The film is so eager to stir us up that it thinks little of bending the facts for dramatic effect. Among its most egregious distortions is its depiction of Mr. Carter s 1964 middleweight title match with Joey Giardello. The movie (which has fine, naturalistic boxing sequences) inaccurately portrays the fight as lost by Carter solely because of the judges racism. The taking of such license, of course, adds an extra jolt of drama. But when these and other distortions and exaggerations are added up, it s worth wondering if that self-congratulatory glow the movie leaves us with has been gotten far too easily and at what cost.

Jewison considers The Hurricane his best work.

Accolades

Wins

• Berlin International Film Festival: Prize of the Guild of German rt House Cinemas, Norman Jewison; Silver Berlin Bear, Best Actor, Denzel Washington 2000.
• Black Reel Awards: Black Reel; Theatrical, Best Actor; Denzel Washington; 2000.
• Golden Globes: Golden Globe; Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture, Drama; Denzel Washington; 2000.
• Image Awards: Image Award; Outstanding Actor in a Motion Picture, Denzel Washington; 2000.

Nominations

• Academy Awards: Oscar; Best Actor in a Leading Role; Denzel Washington; 2000.
• Screen Actors Guild Awards: Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role; Denzel Washington; 2000.
• Berlin International Film Festival: Golden Berlin Bear, Norman Jewison; 2000.
• Blockbuster Entertainment Awards: Blockbuster Entertainment Award, Favorite Actor, Drama, Denzel Washington; 2000.
• Chicago Film Critics Association Awards: CFCA Award; Best Actor; Denzel Washington; 2000.
• Golden Globes: Golden Globe; Best Director, Motion Picture, Norman Jewison; Best Motion Picture – Drama; 2000.
• Image Awards: Image Award; Outstanding Actress in a Motion Picture Debbi Morgan, Outstanding Motion Picture; 2000.

Accuracy

Former middleweight World Champion Joey Giardello sued the film s producers for libel over the depiction of his fight with Carter as a racist fix. This is a joke, he never hit me that much in 15 rounds. Virtually every boxing expert then and now will tell you I won the fight. Referee Robert Polis who scored the fight 72–66 in Giardello s favor stated: They portrayed Joey Giardello as an incompetent fighter. I thought it was ludicrous.

Eventually, the case was settled out of court, with the producers paying the retired champion damages and with Jewison agreeing to make a statement on the DVD version that Giardello no doubt was a great fighter.

Alex von Tunzelmann wrote a review for The Guardian giving the film a D− for accuracy, citing issues including depictions of Carter s military service, prior criminal record and the Giardello fight, while stating that the inclusion of negative aspects of Carter s life would not have made it acceptable that he was wrongfully convicted of three murders.

Year	1999
ReleaseDate	2000-01-14
RuntimeMins	146
RuntimeStr	2h 26min
Plot	The story of Rubin ‘Hurricane’ Carter, a boxer wrongly imprisoned for murder, and the people who aided in his fight to prove his innocence.
Awards	Nominated for 1 Oscar, 7 wins & 18 nominations total
Directors	Norman Jewison
Writers	Rubin ‘Hurricane’ Carter, Sam Chaiton, Terry Swinton
Stars	Denzel Washington, Vicellous Shannon, Deborah Kara Unger
Produced by	Marc Abraham,Jean-Yves Asselin,Irving Azoff,Armyan Bernstein,Thomas A. Bliss,Suzann Ellis,Jon Jashni,Michael Jewison,Norman Jewison,John Ketcham,Rudy Langlais,Tom Rosenberg,William Teitler
Music by	Jeremy Sweet,Christopher Young
Cinematography by	Roger Deakins
Film Editing by	Stephen E. Rivkin
Casting By	Avy Kaufman
Production Design by	Philip Rosenberg
Art Direction by	Dennis Davenport
Set Decoration by	Gordon Sim
Costume Design by	Aggie Guerard Rodgers
Makeup Department	John Caglione Jr.,Larry M. Cherry,Raul Hernandez,Irene Kent,Nina Port,Mary Cooke
Production Management	Carol Cuddy,Mathew Hart
Second Unit Director or Assistant Director	Jeff J.J. Authors,Chris Baillie,Paul F. Bernard,Julie Brazeau,Darrin Brown,Terry Ham,Paul Hogan,Sarah Jarvis,Keith J. Knight,Lisa Mercurio,Douglas Plasse,Eric S. Potechin,Christopher Surgent,Janet Zdyb
Art Department	Deryck Blake,Kelly Brine,Ellen Christiansen,J.P. Dame,David DeMarinis,Dawn H. Fisher,Paul Greenberg,Marcel Laporte,Jae Pak,Louis J. Porzio,Karl Schneider,Michael Shocrylas,Robert S. Smith,Victoria Vanasco,Patricia Walker,Holly Watson,Christopher Geggie,Alexandra Mazur
Sound Department	Ross Carter,Bruce Carwardine,Jeanne Gilliland,Mark Gingras,Wayne Griffin,Andy Koyama,Goro Koyama,John Laing,Andy Malcolm,Peter Melnychuk,Tim O Connell,Michael O Farrell,Brad Thornton,Don White,Rebecca Wright,Gren-Erich Zwicker
Special Effects by	Jason Board,Kaz Kobielski,Peter Kunz,Jim Reischl,Dean Stewart
Visual Effects by	Lane Glisson,Jamie Hallett,Colin Walcott,Mark Tureski
Stunts	Brittney Banks,Peter Bucossi,Shelley Cook,Mike Justus,Steve Lucescu,Jalil Jay Lynch,Mick O Rourke,Branko Racki,John Stoneham Jr.,Timothy Klein
Camera and Electrical Department	Terrence Laron Burke,Angelo Colavecchia,Candide Franklyn,Duane Gullison,Bruce Hamme,Jeremy Knaster,George Kraychyk,Jim MacCammon,Mark Manchester,Charlie Marroquin,Malcolm Nefsky,Kevin Neshevich,David Niven,Beth Nobes,Chris Nordstrom,Bill O Leary,Derek Parkes,Marc Purdy,Patrick Quinn,Darren Ryan,Abe Schrager,Dean Stinchcombe,Craig Vaccaro
Casting Department	Riccardo Bertoni,Beth Bowling,Robin D. Cook,Aric Dupere,Donna Dupere,Brad Gerstl,David H. Kramer,Julie Lichter
Costume and Wardrobe Department	Winnie D. Brown,Marta Font,Ann Henshaw,Lauren Press,Marcia Scott
Editorial Department	Clare Bambrough,Mike Bellamy,Gary Burritt,Kathy LaCommare,Mike Milliken,Dawn M. Stoliar,Paul Whitehead
Location Management	Michael Blecher,Katherine Dorrer,Bill Garvey,Mark Kamine,John Kenyon,Michael Moniaros,Keith Park,Mimi Turner
Music Department	Pete Anthony,Tom Brown,Kenneth Burgomaster,Anita Camarata,Kostas Christides,Todd Cochran,Sandy DeCrescent,Jim Dunbar,Robert Fernandez,Daniel Gold,Thomas Golubic,Tanya Noel Hill,Jim Hoffman,Danny Holloway,Jon Kull,Yvonne McDonald,Thomas Milano,Flavio Motalla,Sujin Nam,Christopher S. Parker,Jasper Randall,David Reynolds,John Rodd,G. Marq Roswell,Dennis Sager,Steven L. Smith,Melodee Sutton,James Thatcher,Gernot Wolfgang,Christopher Young,Jeanette Surga
Script and Continuity Department	Samantha Armstrong
Transportation Department	Ron Annabelle,Patrick Hogan,Stuart Mitchell,Charles Spillane,Dave Staples,Mitchel Stewart
Additional Crew	Thomas Acosta,Janine Anderton,Mark Barclay,Jackie Bazan,Angela Bellisio,Jeremy Boxen,Kenneth Burgomaster,Terry Claybon,Christopher Comrie,Jan Cosby,G. Michael Currie,Shirley Davis,Richard Devinki,Greg Eby,Rich Fellegara,Lynn Foster,Andrew Fumento,Chris George,Misty Green,Dianne Hatlestad,Alex Kontsalakis,Keri Lederman,Sophia Lofters,Michael Mendelsohn,Rob Mitchell,Kimberlee Morley,Dawn Murphy Riley,Rodney Saulsberry,Burton Sharp,David Smukler,Ron Stein,Nancy Rae Stone,Guenevere Taylor,Elaine Thurston,Ezra Venetos,Nadia Voukitchevitch,Nadezda Vukicevic,Michelle Webster,Quinn Yancey,Elizabeth Zagrany,Tania D. Campbell,Randee Lynne Jensen
Thanks	Matthew Baer
Genres	Biography, Drama, Sport
Companies	Azoff Entertainment, Beacon Communications, Beacon Pictures
Countries	USA
Languages	English
ContentRating	R
ImDbRating	7.6
ImDbRatingVotes	97298
MetacriticRating	74
Keywords	toronto ontario canada,reference to fyodor dostoyevsky,reference to w.e. b. dubois,reference to richard wright,reference to victor hugo