'Hate Got Me In But Love Will Bust Me Out'

Rating: Null/10 (27 May 2009)

Jewison's 'The Hurricane' is pretty much a familiar biopic where the hero struggles during his youth, he is wrongfully accused of a heinous crime and the whole world is against him until, years later, with the help of a few friends, he manages to fight the system and win. The story is pretty formulaic but Jewison tells it well.
The passage of time and growth and aging of characters are well demonstrated. The pace is a little slow at times but manages to quickly pick up. The reason why such biopics, provided that they're well-made, manage to pull a crowd and grip the viewer is because it reminds of the struggles one goes through and to fight and overcome obstacles rather than give up and give in. The dialogues, especially those between Carter and Lesra and Lisa, are outstanding.
In addition, 'The Hurricane' further showcases Denzel Washington's performance. It is also crucial for a biopic to have at least good performances and Washington's nuanced portrayal really makes 'The Hurricane' a strong movie. He is excellently supported by a sincere Vicellous Reon Shannon, a beautiful Deborah Kara Unger, and charming John Hannah and Liev Schreiber.
On the flip side, while the movie is pretty much in support of the protagonists, the 'bad' guys are portrayed as full-fledged villains. Den Hedaya's Della absolutely has no redeeming quality and he comes across as a caricature as do the rest of the racist characters. Like many biopics, 'The Hurricane' also does not reveal every single many crucial facts about the case (such as the situations with the lie detector). I also wanted to know more about the Canadians. Who were they really? Overall 'The Hurricane' could have been a better movie but still remains an uplifting film that reminds people to fight on, overcome obstacles and believe in love and compassion.