Rather lengthy, sentimental 'true story' picture, but quite

Rating: 7/10 (20 February 2001)

The legend of Rubin "Hurricane" Carter is told here at considerable length and with many of the standard Hollywood touches of slush, but gets across a pretty powerful message about injustice and a righteous man's capacity for great nobility in the worst possible circumstances. The warning that an ostensibly 'true' story has been 'slightly fictionalised for dramatic purposes' (or words to that effect) should be enough to put the informed viewer on his guard, however, and for me at least takes a lot away from the strength of the subject matter - if you can't trust all of what you are being shown, a shadow of doubt is thrown across the entire piece. If you can ignore this problem and just go along with the story it makes for quite a good movie, but unfortunately, with this doubt in mind throughout, much of it seems just a little too simplistic and 'Hollywood' to ring true. This is sad, as perhaps the viewer disregards much of what is honest and accurate, but until some kind of standard of true-ishness is set, all major movies claiming to depict true lives and incidents must be tarred with the same propagandist brush that mars some really great films - Braveheart etc - which lose a lot in becoming mere stories and not the recreations of history they at first appear.
Taken as a story though, this is a good one, and Washington turns in yet another powerhouse performance ranking alongside his best. The supporting cast is admirable, although perhaps accent experts may spot a few flaws in John Hannah's attempt at Canadian, and Dan Hedaya provides another wonderful, if rather comic-book, villain. Nice to see Clancy Brown playing a fairly good guy for a change too. The movie does tend to drag a little towards the end, especially if viewed on a rather sleepy Sunday afternoon, but until the final fifth or so it is well paced and well structured, and looks at the racial themes at the heart of the case with an unusually delicate touch, contrasting strongly with Hollywood's typically clumsy, heavy-handed treatment of such matters. An interesting film, but those truly interested will need to find some serious information on the subject to find out how balanced this movie really is.