A poor screenplay with a good lead actor

Rating: Null/10 (13 November 2000)

***SPOILERS*** ***SPOILERS*** Even though Denzel Washington did a good job acting, the screenplay was weak therefore making the film itself disappointing. Overall, the characters in this film were not well developed. The evil nemesis of Rubin Carter was definitely proven evil, but I would've liked to see some explanation why he was so evil. Then, the second half of the film brought new characters without any development at all. The three teachers who helped proved Rubin Carter innocent didn't seem to have any motivation or passion at all. They were very flat characters. And, it seemed that they found all this new evidence without really trying. Even the threats seemed empty. Finally, the ending was unclear. The federal judge freed Rubin Carter with an ambiguous explanation. The explanation may work for lawyers, but as a layman I did not understand it at all. It all seemed too easy. In essence, even though Denzel Washington did a good job, the screenplay was weak and therefore the film itself was disappointing.