The Hurricane 2000, Rated R Universal

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Starring Denzel Washington, et al. Released to DVD on July 11, 2000.

Nominated for a slew of acting awards for his performance in The Hurricane, Denzel Washington (who is still The Man) stars here as Rubin "Hurricane" Carter, a popular Bob Dylan song. After a childhood of petty theft and violence, Carter joined the military and began to box. After capturing the middleweight boxing title, Carter was wrongfully arrested and sentenced to life in jail for a murder he did not commit. Learning of his plight nearly 15 years later, four Canadians (John Hannah, Liev Schreiber, Deborah Unger and Vicellous Reon Shannon) take it upon themselves to right the wrongs and get Carter out of jail. While The Hurricane does suffer from several of the problems that almost all biopics do--the script jumps around in non-linear increments and the not-so-honorable parts of the subject's life have been convienently overlooked--in the end, director Norman Jewison's powerful themes of faith in mankind and doing what's right overcame the minutia of the genre. Washington's portrayal of The Hurricane is simply astounding, as is Dan Hedaya's cold, supporting turn as Detective Vincent Della Pesca, the corrupt cop behind Carter's wrongful arrest and imprisonment. The Hurricane packs one vicious punch.