basically a work of fiction

Rating: Null/10 (2 October 2001)

I need to warn people who watch this film, even though Denzel is a great actor who always gives a fine performance, to say the least this film needs to be taken with a grain of salt because its basically biased fiction with extensive "dramatic license". I have done some research and there are some facts you need to be aware of. First of all, Carter had an extensive criminal record, he was 29 years old when arrested for the Lafayette murders and had spent 11 of those years in confinement of some sort! The film shows him as a child rescuing a friend from a child molester and then stabbing him in self defense! Wrong! Carter actually beat a defenseless man over the head and stole his watch. He was always getting in trouble for fighting and beating up people, that was why he was sent to juvenile hall. He escaped in 1954 and spent two years in the Army (he was dismissed for unfitness after four court martials). He then went to jail for four years for assaulting and robbing three people. This film makes it look like he was pursued by a Javeat-like, bigoted detective named Della Pesca who "set him up" for the murders. There was no such person. Vincent De Simone was the real detective assigned to the case. According to all accounts he was a very nice man and an outstanding police officer who was not a racist or had anything against Carter. Also, contrary to what this film would have you believe, Carter was not unfairly robbed when he lost a decision when he fought for the title. Carter himself admitted this in an interview. Bob Dylans song The Hurricane said "they put him in a prison cell but he could have been the champion of the world". Carter lost eight of his last fifteen fights and wasn't even rated when he was arrested. In a 1964 Saturday Evening Post article Carter talked about going up to Watts and shooting cops (I could get about four or five). He owned an extensive gun collection and was feared by the people in Paterson. Is it any wonder he was considered a suspect! Like I said, this is a good film, but its just not true.