Based partially on Rubin "Hurricane" Carter's 1974 autobiography, The Sixteenth Round, The Hurricane covers Carter's twenty-two year prison ordeal following his wrongful conviction on three counts of murder. It's 1966 and Carter (Denzel Washington) is the contender for the world middleweight boxing title; he is arrested on three counts of murder. After false testimony is given by known criminals in front of an all-white jury, Carter and a young fan, John Artis (Garland Whitt) who was with him on the night in question, are sentenced to life imprisonment. After winning a retrial and again being convicted, Carter withdraws until Lesra Martin (Vicellous Reon Shannon), a troubled young African-American living in Canada, reads Carter's book and initiates correspondence. Lesra and his three social activist guardians, Lisa Peters (Deborah Kara Unger), Sam Chaiton (Liev Schreiber) and Terry Swinton (John Hannah), dedicate themselves to winning Carter's release, finally achieving success in 1988.