"It is very important to transcend the places that hold us."

Rating: 8/10 (5 August 2012)

My rating for the picture has to do with the way the story was conveyed on film, irrelevant of the actual facts of the Rubin Carter murder case. In that respect, the movie is a pretty compelling one even if it runs a bit long. However on the flip side, as I read some other reviewers here and dip into some of the facts surrounding the murders, I have a real sense of disappointment that this turned into just another Hollywood 'treatment' of a controversial figure. Even the scene of Carter's match against Joey Giardello in which he was 'robbed' of the middleweight title can be fact checked against the actual footage of the fight, so where's the percentage in going against reality? I was ready to go all out about Carter's perseverance and the injustice of his situation, racism and corrupt cops, the whole nine yards, but now I have to over compensate for the picture's opening remarks stating that 'some characters have been composited or invented, and a number of incidents fictionalized'. Really? Composited, invented? That's a real downer.
I'll give Denzel Washington his due - his portrayal here proves he's a master of his craft. Dan Hedaya made you hate him as the corrupt Sergeant Detective, and he was a compelling figure too, but then again he was one of those invented characters. That Dylan song went a long way to inspire celebrity talent to take up the cause at the time, but I wonder how they feel now, Dylan, Ellen Burstyn, if in fact they bothered to learn more about the case than a surface treatment would suggest. I've always been suspect of films that billed themselves as 'based on a true story'. Now I have more reason than ever to be suspicious.