Simplistic and biased, only Washington's performance saves this from the mire...

Rating: 4/10 (6 May 2003)

This film has 'triumphalism' written all over it, from the official synopsis to the opening credits to, even yes, the end. This is a movie that never begins to consider the idea that its audience may just disagree with some of its cavalier assumptions. We simply are served the tale of an 'indomnitable fight for justice', failing spectacularly to convince on most levels, apart from Washington's performance as the main character.
As he did in "Cry Freedom", Denzel elevates the dross around him. "The Hurricane" suffers from being appallingly threadbare in detail, as opposed to bloated and pompous like the Attenborough treatise years earlier. Still, Washington almost works miracles again, inspiring dignity where by rights there should be none.
The details of the framed crime are scant, perhaps because if it were fleshed out a little bit, the implausibly bitter pill would be that much harder to swallow. Where is proper motive, expositional dialogue, nuance to scenes? Nowhere to be found. The world of "The Hurricane" is black and white, uncomfortable given that the movie only airily tosses racism into the mix as an afterthought compared to its other indignations. Maybe that's why any unjust motive for imprisoning Ruben that there may be is so muddled. A proper dissection of race-relations would only serve to derail the film from the blatant righteous agenda that it insists on having. The family of Carter supporters, like the jury who convicted him prior to their championing, are too easily convinced. The audience outside the confines of this fictional world are the only ones who are probably likely to be found scratching their heads.
Hannah is badly miscast. Why pick somebody with a Scottish brogue if accent was going to be important? It's not even easy to see why he's there in the first place. Only Washington and the boy contribute anything worthwhile to the story. Given the liberties with the material the makers already chose to sanction, why didn't they just compress at least one more character and remove that difficulty altogether?
The actual fight scenes are surprisingly well done. A shame then, that they do nothing to contribute to the 'noble' image the film would like so much to establish for its lead character. Like the performance of Washington which is ultimately in vain, they are but one more insufficient coat of gloss on a tale that all too visibly begins to 'peel' with alarming rapidity.