The Hurricane

Zatoichi's Review

Warning: (Very) minor spoiler.

If this had been a movie based on fiction, I am not sure I would have liked it. I came into it knowing something about Ruben "Hurricane" Carter's story, and wanted to see how Denzel Washington did with the role. No surprise to get an Oscar quality performance from him; I am rooting for a Best Actor nomination.

The movie portrayed Ruben Carter as a nearly perfect person and the bad guys as always bad. Real life isn't that cut and dried, or else we would all always know who the bad guys are and they wouldn't have the power to do the things they get away with in society. I know movie makers don't want to take any chances by letting the audience make their own conclusions, so they sometimes treat us as if we need obvious overstatement in order to understand their points. Well, we don't. A little subtlety is appreciated.

One of the weakest elements of the film is the lack of strong supporting roles. Dan Hedaya gives a serviceable performance as Ruben's fictional nemesis, Detective Vincent Della Pesca. Feature film newcomer Vicellous Shannon is appealing as Lesra Martin. They don't add to the impact of the film, or draw the viewer into their own narrative. This story is about the Hurricane.

The film had good music and good acting and is a story of something finally going right, and how hard it is to make that happen. There is a lot about loyalty and faith and trust, intimacy and perseverance. A hurricane doesn't let up, it just blows until it is done. It is not always at its strongest.

I'm weakly recommending this.

Bang for the Buck: Go to the half-price matinee
Movie Mood: Serious movie
Recommends to friends? Yes
HSX Recommendation: Short at the current price ($36.49 on Jan 17).

Zatoichi January 17^th, 2000