By Staci D. Kramer Universal Pictures Denzel Washington was The Hurricane 's only Oscar nomination. On the surface, The Hurricane at the very least should have delivered a punishing left hook when it came to the 72nd annual Academy Awards nominations. Instead, a brutal round of criticism about the biopic's veracity left the movie's Oscar chances bruised and bloody. But the members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences didn't send a clear message about the value of truth in fact-based movies. Instead, seven nominations, including best picture, best director and best adapted screenplay went to The Insider , the sometimes factually debatable conspiracy drama about tobacco, the media and the wrecking of a man's life.
Words spoken by one person in reality come out of another character's mouth.
But unlike The Hurricane , which took knocks for omissions as well as for creating events that never occurred, the producers of The Insider responded as soon as criticism hit about liberties with the truth. Director and co-screenwriter Michael Mann started his vigorous defense before the movie's debut, admitting to some artistic license but claiming accuracy. Key courtroom scene never took place AP The Insider , starring Al Pacino, received seven Oscar nominations. Turan pointed to a Dec. 28 critique of Hurricane from New York Times reporter Selwyn Rabb, who wrote the 1970s articles that helped gain Carter a second trial, noting that it took several weeks for producers to make a public response. They eventually took out ads in the trades and posted a sharp defense online at the movie's Web site.