The Hurricane

dir. Norman Jewison

Norman Jewison's third, and hopefully final "problem film" (his first two being 1966's In the Heat of the Night and 1984's A Soldier's Story) is his least successful. In the Heat of the Night had Rod Steiger and Sidney Poitier in top form; A Soldier's Story boasted a great black cast; but with the exception of dependable Denzel Washington, The Hurricane is marked by weak performances -- especially by Deborah Unger, who drifts through this film in the same dreamy haze that enveloped her in Cronenberg's Crash.

The film is based on a true story about Rubin "Hurricane" Carter, a star boxer who was framed for multiple murders by a racist cop. Hurricane (played by Denzel) spent the next 20 years behind bars, where he wrote a book, thought a lot about the nature of American racism, and had a song written about him by Bob Dylan. The only interesting take this film has on his story is that it shamelessly portrays white Canadians as morally superior to their barbarian, gun-toting brethren to the south -- a myth they have treasured since the days of slavery.