The Hurricane is a 1999 biographical film directed by Norman Jewison, and starring Denzel Washington. The script was adapted by Armyan Bernsteinand Dan Gordon from the books Lazarus and the Hurricane: The Freeing of Rubin "Hurricane" Carter (published in 1991), by Sam Chaiton and Terry Swinton, and The Sixteenth Round: From Number 1 Contender To #45472(published in 1974), by Rubin "Hurricane" Carter. The film tells the story of a former middleweight boxer who was convicted for a triple homicide in a bar in Paterson, New Jersey. The film also depicts his life in prison and how he was freed by the love and compassion of a teenager from Brooklyn namedLesra Martin and his Canadian foster family.
The film received positive reviews, but has been criticized for inaccuracies by some media outlets and participants in Carter's trials.
The film received positive reviews, but has been criticized for inaccuracies by some media outlets and participants in Carter's trials.
The film tells the story of middleweight boxer Rubin "Hurricane" Carter, whose conviction for a Paterson, New Jersey triple murder was set aside after he had spent nearly 20 years in prison. Narrating Carter's life, the film concentrates on the period between 1966 and 1985. It describes his fight against the conviction for triple murder and how he copes with nearly twenty years in prison.
In a parallel plot, an underprivileged youth from Brooklyn, Lesra Martin, becomes interested in Carter's life and destiny after reading Carter's autobiography, and convinces his Canadian foster family to commit themselves to his case. The story culminates with Carter's legal team's successful pleas to Judge H. Lee Sarokin of the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey.
In 1966, Rubin "Hurricane" Carter was a top-ranked middleweight boxer whom many fans expected to become the world's greatest champion in boxing. When three victims, specifically the club's bartender and a male and a female customer, were shot to death in a bar in Paterson, New Jersey, Carter and his friend John Artis, driving home from another club in Paterson, were stopped and interrogated by the police.
Although the police asserted that Carter and Artis were innocent and thus, "were never suspects," a man named Alfred Bello, a suspect himself in the killings, claimed that Carter and Artis were present at the time of the murders. On the basis of Bello's testimony, Carter and Artis were convicted of the triple homicide in the club, Carter was given three consecutive life sentences.
Throughout the trial, Carter proclaimed his innocence, claiming that his race, his boxing career and status and his work as a civil rights activist were the real reasons for his conviction. Eight years later, Bello and a co-suspect, Arthur Bradley, who also claimed that Carter was present at the scene of the crimes, renounced and recanted their testimony.
As a result, Carter and Artis were convicted once again[clarification needed]. In the early 1980s, Brooklyn teenager Lesra Martin worked with a trio of Canadian activists to push the State of New Jersey to reexamine Carter's case.
In 1985, a Federal District Court ruled that the prosecution in Carter's second trial committed "grave constitutional violations" and that his conviction was based on racism rather than facts. Carter was finally freed, and he summed up his story by saying, "Hate got me into this place, love got me out."
In a parallel plot, an underprivileged youth from Brooklyn, Lesra Martin, becomes interested in Carter's life and destiny after reading Carter's autobiography, and convinces his Canadian foster family to commit themselves to his case. The story culminates with Carter's legal team's successful pleas to Judge H. Lee Sarokin of the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey.
In 1966, Rubin "Hurricane" Carter was a top-ranked middleweight boxer whom many fans expected to become the world's greatest champion in boxing. When three victims, specifically the club's bartender and a male and a female customer, were shot to death in a bar in Paterson, New Jersey, Carter and his friend John Artis, driving home from another club in Paterson, were stopped and interrogated by the police.
Although the police asserted that Carter and Artis were innocent and thus, "were never suspects," a man named Alfred Bello, a suspect himself in the killings, claimed that Carter and Artis were present at the time of the murders. On the basis of Bello's testimony, Carter and Artis were convicted of the triple homicide in the club, Carter was given three consecutive life sentences.
Throughout the trial, Carter proclaimed his innocence, claiming that his race, his boxing career and status and his work as a civil rights activist were the real reasons for his conviction. Eight years later, Bello and a co-suspect, Arthur Bradley, who also claimed that Carter was present at the scene of the crimes, renounced and recanted their testimony.
As a result, Carter and Artis were convicted once again[clarification needed]. In the early 1980s, Brooklyn teenager Lesra Martin worked with a trio of Canadian activists to push the State of New Jersey to reexamine Carter's case.
In 1985, a Federal District Court ruled that the prosecution in Carter's second trial committed "grave constitutional violations" and that his conviction was based on racism rather than facts. Carter was finally freed, and he summed up his story by saying, "Hate got me into this place, love got me out."
CastDenzel Washington as Rubin "The Hurricane" Carter
Vicellous Reon Shannon as Lesra Martin
Deborah Kara Unger as Lisa Peters
Liev Schreiber as Sam Chaiton
John Hannah as Terry Swinton
Dan Hedaya as Det. Sgt. Della Pesca, based on Vincent DeSimone
Debbi Morgan as Mae Thelma Carter
Clancy Brown as Lt. Jimmy Williams
David Paymer as Myron Beldock
Harris Yulin as Leon Friedman
Rod Steiger as Judge H. Lee Sarokin
Vincent Pastore as Alfred Bello
Beatrice Winde as Louise Cockersham
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