The Hurricane

By RICHARD SCHICKEL

STARRING: Denzel Washington DIRECTOR: Norman Jewison OPENS: limited Dec. 29; wide Jan. 14

Maybe Rubin Carter was a hurricane in the ring, but the movie version of his story--the middleweight contender who was framed on murder charges based on racism--downgrades him to a tropical storm. In Washington's finely shaded performance he's a low-pressure system, illuminated by distant flashes of lightning.

Despite what you might imagine, this is not a bad thing. For once he absorbed the outrage of false conviction, Carter turned fiercely inward. He wrote a good autobiography about his case, read spiritually uplifting books and learned to avoid everyone who might offer him false hope. He had to find the strength to endure entirely within himself.

The austerity of Carter's prison life does not offer many opportunities for electrifying moviemaking, but The Hurricane is nevertheless a thoughtful and even inspiring film. That's not just because of the way it celebrates Carter's self-discipline, but because the director, Norman Jewison, enforces the contrast between his stoicism and the efforts of the unlikely team of '60s activists that eventually came to his rescue.

There were nine of them in reality, just three of them in the movie (for the sake of narrative convenience), and their relentless determination to free a man they came to know only after they took up his cause is impressive. That's especially so since they are led by a teenage black youth, Lesra Martin (very well played by Vicellous Reon Shannon), who happens to pick up Carter's book, enters into correspondence with him and then drags his Canadian guardians into the long, complicated fight to redeem him. He's an irresistible kid, maybe the only sort of person who could break down Carter's wall of reserve. The Hurricane may be a little too leisurely in its development, but the unlikely triumph of Carter's saviors is an authentically moving one.

--R.S.