29 December 1999 | Studio Briefing - Film News | See recent Studio Briefing - Film News news »
Critics, by and large, have been blown away by Hurricane, The (1999), the film biography of fighter Rubin Hurricane Carter, played by Denzel Washington. Washington, in particular, is receiving rave notices, with many writers predicting that he may be the actor to beat for the Oscar. Liam Lacey in the Toronto Globe & Mail (much of the film is shot in Toronto) heaps praise on Canadian director Norman Jewison for avoiding "the heavy weather of its title" and focusing on character. "This is hardly ordinary, crowd-pleasing stuff, " Lacey writes, "but it touches deeper levels, a battle of heart and mind rather than fist." Lou Lumenick in the New York Post concludes: "Make no mistake about it, thanks to Washington's layered acting Hurricane, The (1999) packs a real punch." Stephen Holden in the New York Times suggests that one way to look at the film is "to see it as the cinematic equivalent of an inspirational pop song. Proudly old-fashioned and unabashedly sentimental, Hurricane, The (1999) pulls out every stop to make our eyes misty and bring us to our feet in a standing ovation as it rises in a predictable courtroom crescendo." Kenneth Turan in the Los Angeles Times, while critical of the script, insists that its failings are offset by Washington's performance. "It's Washington's gift to be able to connect us with Carter even when he's at his angriest and most hostile and to make all the stages of his gradual evolution distinct and believable, " Turan writes. "He even takes what could be a clichéd scene, Carter's personality splitting into three parts during a particularly harsh stretch of solitary confinement, and makes it an unforgettable moment. This is the last great performance of 1999, and arguably the best of the lot as well." And Glenn Whipp in the Los Angeles Daily News adds that if Washington "does not earn at least an Oscar nomination, it will be an injustice, although a minor one compared to the injuries suffered by the man he so movingly portrays in The Hurricane." »
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