8
A&E
Washington in the eye of the Hurricane
WEdNEsdAy, J anuary 19, 2000
TI-IE ClAckAMAS P rìnt
TIMOTHY A. BELL
Design Editor
Denzel Washington portrays a boxer
wrongfully convicted of murder in
The Hurricane.
PHOTOS COURTESY OF UNIVERSAL STUDIOS
UPS
Denzel Washington gives audi
ences a realistic performance in the
controversial true story about rac
ism and injustice in The Hurricane.
Washington is Rubin “Hurri
cane” Carter, a boxer who is wrong-
fully convicted of murder and sen
tenced to three life terms in prison.
In order to keep hold of his sanity,
Carter channels his frustration and
anger through the writing of his
autobiography The Sixteenth
Round. After two appeals are
turned down, Carter eventually
loses all hope for freedom and with
draws from the outer
world.
Years later a
troubled
youth
named Lesra Martin,
played by Vicellous
Reon
Shannon
{Mighty Ducks 2),
identifies with Carter
after reading his
book, and they
quickly form a
friendship that leads to a full-
fledged campaign to free Carter.
John Hannah {The Mummy),
Deborah Unger {Payback) and
Liev Schreiber {Scream 2) play the
three Canadian guardians of Mar
tin who give an exceptional amount
of selfless commitment by literally
focusing all of their time and effort
to freeing Carter.
Dan Hedaya {A Civil Action) co-
stars in the film as Detective Vincent
Della Pesca, a racist who does ev
erything in his power, including
creating evidence, to keep Carter
behind bars.
Washington portrays the boxer
so well that it’s hard to tell where
he ends and the Hurricane begins.
He allows the audience to feel the
pain of being isolated in a world of
corruption and helplessness.
Washington spent two years train
ing for this role and it shows, not
only through the fierceness in the
ring, but also in his resolve to clear
his name and rise above the sys
tem.
Unfortunately, despite how ap
pealing and powerful this film is,
it’s not an actual representation of
the facts surrounding the 20-years
of hell the Hurricane endured. In a
lot of ways, this movie is like JFK,
in that a real life situation has been
spruced up by Hollywood to make
the message more understandable.
The Hurricane is a reflection of
how racism destroys humanity,
and it would be an injustice to any
one who doesn’t spend the money
to go and see it.
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