Well-made but standard biopic

Rating: 7/10 (31 January 2000)

"The Hurricane" contains a truly great performance from Denzel Washington, and a genuinely touching relationship between the title character - wrongfully-imprisoned boxer Rubin Carter - and a young Brooklyn boy being raised by a commune in Toronto. Unfortunately, by the last hour, it develops into no more than a standard legal thriller, with Carter's supporters - all crusading white liberals, as the heroes always seem to be in Hollywood films about racism - trying to find the critical evidence which will prove his innocence. I was hoping for more. (7/10)