Captivating story

Rating: 8/10 (25 October 2004)

** HERE BE SPOILERS **
Young Rubin Carter, in self-defense, stab a prominent (white) man and is declared as a menace to society by a judge, sending him to a juvenile detention center. Later, a couple of years older, he escapes, joins the army and after serving some time, returns home only to be thrown back into jail. In jail, and after being released he trains himself as a price boxer something he becomes very successful at. However, after a murder in a bar, a cop who has put his life to put Carter back into jail, frames Carter and he is sentenced to three consecutive lifetimes behind bars. As he is innocent he refuses to conform to prison life. A few years later a black kid, tutored by three Canadians, reads his autobiography and get involved in his case. Together they try to resolve what really happened and free Carter.
To me, it doesn't really matter if the movie is accurate to what really happened. It was in any way a really interesting and captivating story about a man that had rough upbringing and had to fight the system just because of his skin color. Denzel Washington is very good as Rubin Carter, giving the character strength and humanity. Unger, Schreiber, Shannon and Hannah is giving nice performances as well, although the movie, naturally, is very focused upon the character Carter, not giving the other characters much chance to grow. Other cast is good as well, for example Brown once again is a prison guard, and does it convincingly. The movie is very well done, with nice detail and effort. That some scenes is in black and white is not bad, just kind of gives the movie a change of pace. As mentioned the story is very captivating, and although not as entertaining as more action-packed movies, this one is better than most. You just didn't want to miss the tiniest bit.
8/10