An ode to Racism and Institutional Discrimination

Rating: Null/10 (20 January 2000)

The film depicts the life of Rubin "Hurricane" Carter, a framed athlete that is serving a life sentence. Throughout the film, racism and institutional discrimination play a key role, especially with a racist cop (Dan Hedaya), and the turbulent 60s, during the peak of the Civil Rights Movement.

Norman Jewison might be an outstanding director, since he directed a couple of films that depicted racism, like In the Heat of the Night (1967), and A Soldier's Story (1985). After watching this film, seeing Rubin Carter in prison might be analogous to the life of Nelson Mandela, where a miscarriage of justice still exists. Like The Green Mile (1999), where Michael Clarke Duncan is a death row inmate, Denzel Washington is a lifer, who has nothing to lose.
Anyone who is familiar with the Alabama railroad boys case would enjoy this film.