Poor execution of a promising story

Rating: 5/10 (16 January 2000)

After a couple of hours, this movie gets good. It becomes a courtroom drama where the emotional parts become genuinely emotional. The young boy doesn't get as many lines (which is good. I'm sorry, but he just can't act), and maybe it's fatigue from being in my seat for so long, but the lines of dialogue that everyone else spouts become believable for the first time. Other than that, I can say very little in favor of The Hurricane. The writers obviously killed perfectly good trees writing hours of dialogue for characters who will only be remembered as Good White Man 1 or Bad White Policeman 3. Dan Hedaya does a decent job with what he's given, but every line amounts to "Grr... I don't like you because you're black. By the way, have I mentioned lately that I'm evil and corrupt? I'm afraid the guy asleep in the back row may not have picked up on it yet." The 3 Canadians have nothing to do but stand in a group like some obscene 3-headed beast, one being surly and dark (Liev Schrieber), one being the stereotypical pretty blonde, and the third being at times mildly accented and other times so British I honestly thought he was going to wrap himself in a British flag and dance around. As expected, Denzel Washington does an incredible job, and he's helped by the fact that his lines are the only ones that sound like they were written by someone who has actually come into contact with people in the real world. I mean, there are some really good lines ("You know, not all white people are racists." "Yeah, and not all black people are murderers."), and some funny moments (they really don't warrant to more than a mild chuckle, but they're good attempts, and I'm really reaching for reasons to like this movie that is Socially Conscious and that everyone else will, as usual with Socially Conscious movies that ride the coat-tails of their capital letters, love and weep over and use as an excuse to pick a fight with me over my tastes in films), but I'm not someone who watches movies purely for the story being told. For a movie to get to me, the story is just one factor. I need something that is well done as well, something with good writing and good acting. Aside from a couple of good lines and a great performance by Denzel Washington, this movie didn't have anything to like other than the emotional force of its story, and I'm truly sorry to be admitting this, but that's just not enough for me. I can't recommend this movie. I'm sorry.