Inspiring but also depressing fact-based story; well-done, especially Washington's performance (SPOILERS)

Rating: Null/10 (7 July 2003)

The movie begins with a 1963 boxing match, filmed in black and white, involving Rubin 'Hurricane' Carter. Then we see a scene from 1973, in color, where Carter is worried the manuscript from his book will be taken away, but a compassionate guard tries to assure Carter that doesn't have to happen. After we go back and forth between the two settings for a while, it is 1966 and we see the murders for which Carter was convicted, but we can't see who committed them. Outside after the murders, we are unable to see any more than one of the witnesses does.
Then it is the 1980s and Lesra, a troubled black teenager, has moved in with Lisa, Sam and Terry, who are white and want to help him make his life better. They met when Lesra was working for the EPA, and after finding out Lesra didn't know how to read, they want to teach Lesra to read. One of his first books is Carter's autobiography. As Lesra reads, Denzel Washington narrates, and we see Carter's life in flashbacks, starting when he was young and got in big trouble for the first time. According to the movie, Carter was merely defending himself from a pedophile, though the police did not believe him, since the man was one of the city's leading citizens. Though we don't get to see any of the time he spent there, Carter is sentenced to a juvenile detention facility. Later, Carter is home while serving in the military, wearing his uniform. He has cleaned up his life and vowed to improve himself mentally and physically. But even then, he can't stay out of trouble.
Some of the scenes relating to the murders are shown again, along with new ones. Apparently one of the people who said Carter committed the murders was trying to get out of trouble. And one of the cops remembered him from before and just had it in for Carter.
Once in prison, Carter thinks he can go against the rules. The warden won't hear of it. Carter takes everything that is thrown at him, but one guard thinks he can give Carter special treatment and get Carter to stop behaving in a way that could kill him.
The flashbacks stop for the most part (if they don't get confusing enough, Lisa also picks up the book and Washington starts narrating). Lesra starts a pen-pal relationship with Carter that eventually leads to visits. Lesra and his friends believe they can help Carter get out of prison, but so far his many attempts to appeal have failed.
Washington gives a wonderful performance. He is positively terrifying in the boxing ring and during his angry episodes as a prisoner. Most of the time he comes across as dignified, intelligent, and somewhat bitter but not chronically angry. He can also be vulnerable and even sad, and borderline insane. And of course Washington does happy very well, something we don't get to see enough of since Carter didn't have many reasons to be happy. His Oscar nomination was certainly deserved.
Vicellous Reon Shannon also does a good job as Lesra, and Deborah Unger plays Lisa well, especially in the second half. Al Waxman commands respect as the warden, and Clancy Brown is quite likeable as the guard who treated Carter like a human being.
Lesra is inspired to make something of himself as he gets to know Carter, and in this way I suppose it was valuable to learn about Carter the way he did. We are also inspired by Carter's struggle, but we get let down a lot.
I have two major complaints about the movie: Mae Thelma obviously cared a lot for Carter, judging from her reaction to his conviction, but we never saw his relationship with her develop, and we heard little from her throughout the rest of the movie. Also, the constant flashbacks at the beginning were quite confusing, as we went back and forth from one time period to another. The flashbacks came back later in the movie, but they were necessary to illustrate the process of appealing Carter's case. The boxing scenes also appeared well done, though I'm no boxing fan. Overall, I found this movie very worthwhile and entertaining, especially toward the end.
*********************SPOILERS********************
Lesra and his friends moved to be near Carter and help with his appeal. The efforts that have failed over many years suddenly shift into high gear, and it's quite exciting to watch the process of finding out the truth. A risky strategy takes the case into federal court, and Rod Steiger gives an impressive performance as the judge. It is a case of all or nothing. This makes the ending a real joy to watch. In case you don't know, Carter did get out of prison. I only say this because it's probably well-known.