The Hurricane (1999)

The story of Rubin 'Hurricane' Carter, a boxer wrongly imprisoned for murder, and the people who aided in his fight to prove his innocence.

Director:

Norman Jewison

Writers:

Rubin 'Hurricane' Carter (book), Sam Chaiton (book)

Stars:

Denzel Washington, Vicellous Shannon, Deborah Kara Unger

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 7 wins & 17 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Denzel Washington	...	Rubin Carter
Vicellous Shannon	...	Lesra (as Vicellous Reon Shannon)
Deborah Kara Unger	...	Lisa
Liev Schreiber	...	Sam
John Hannah	...	Terry
Dan Hedaya	...	Della Pesca
Debbi Morgan	...	Mae Thelma
Clancy Brown	...	Lt. Jimmy Williams
David Paymer	...	Myron Bedlock
Harris Yulin	...	Leon Friedman
Rod Steiger	...	Judge Sarokin
Badja Djola	...	Mobutu
Vincent Pastore	...	Alfred Bello
Al Waxman	...	Warden
David Lansbury	...	U.S. Court Prosecutor

Storyline

This film tells the story of Rubin "Hurricane" Carter, an African-American man who rose above his troubled youth to become a top contender for the middle-weight boxing title. However, his dreams are shattered when he is accused of a triple murder, and is convicted to three natural-life terms. Despite becoming a cause celebre and his dogged efforts to prove his innocence through his autobiography, the years of fruitless efforts have left him discouraged. This changes when an African-American boy and his Canadian mentors read his book and are convinced of his innocence enough to work for his exoneration. However, what Hurricane and his friends learn is that this fight puts them against a racist establishment that profited from this travesty and have no intention of seeing it reversed.

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Plot Keywords:

toronto ontario | historical revisionism | reference to fyodor dostoyevsky | reference to w.e. b. dubois | reference to richard wright | 

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Taglines:

His greatest fight was for justice.

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Genres:

Biography | Drama | Sport

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for language and some violence

Did You Know?

Trivia

The Hurricane is based on Rubin Carter's biography "The Sixteenth Round" and the book "Lazarus & the Hurricane" written by Sam Chaiton (Sam) and Terence Swinton (Terry). Bob Dylan's protest song, "Hurricane", featured throughout the film, was also based on Carter's biography.

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Goofs

The CLRV streetcar that whizzes by in the background when Lesra sends his first letter to Rubin Carter in Toronto, wasn't introduced to Toronto streets until 1979.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Announcer: Ladies and gentlemen, this fine young fighter will be right here in Pittsburg on the boxing cog, this Monday night.

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Connections

Referenced in Jeopardy!: Episode #30.191 (2014)

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Soundtracks

Treasure of Love
Written by Joe Shapiro, Lou Stallman
Performed by Clyde McPhatter

User Reviews

Superb performance...

I don't really know why people cannot talk without putting terms as "he did it" while thinking about this movie. How racially charged or challenged were those times has been clearly talked about, filmed and factually corrected. Literature, personalities and even a simple man can confirm to those facts and we can really put an end to who did it...or he did it!!! The movie marks the most stellar performance from Denzel Washington as he portrays the character "Hurricane". What surprised and confirmed my earlier thoughts about people rating this movie are that an awful lot of movies in here have better rating than this movie....and the confirmation is that ratings do not matter This movie stands out and lets you feel the passion and focus of a man...not born under normal circumstances but freed under great conditions. I think I am confident enough to say about this movie....if you haven't seen this movie then it doesn't really matter to you what cinema can be and what cinema possibly can create.

Forget the ratings....I think when you're done seeing it, you would decide for yourself what I am trying to say here. Where is the Oscar....ohh did we miss it??? Gladly so.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

14 January 2000 (USA)

Also Known As:

Lazarus and the Hurricane

Filming Locations:

Canada

Box Office

Budget:

$50,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$384,640, 2 January 2000

Gross USA:

$50,699,241

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$73,956,241

Company Credits

Production Co:

Azoff Entertainment, Beacon Communications, Beacon Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

146 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1