At a second-hand book stall in Toronto in the early 80s, Lesra, a once illiterate New York boy from the slums, buys his first book for 25 cents - it`s \"The 16th Round\", the autobiograpy of Rubin \"Hurricane\" Carter, a former champion boxer who`s been in prison since 1966, found guilty by two all-white juries for killing three white people in a New Jersey bar - Carter has always maintained his innocence. Lesra is so entranced by Carter`s book that he writes to the man, and eventually gets to see him - and it`s the involvement of Lesra and his three Canadian patrons that brings new hope to the Hurricane.
The best films of Canadian director Norman Jewison - In The Heat Of The Night, A Soldier`s Story - have dealt with racial themes, so given the Canadian connection to Rubin Carter`s story it`s no wonder Jewison has responded with an impassioned film about injustice and racism, a film in which Carter`s story is told against a backdrop of the civil rights movement of the 60s. Unfortunately, the screenplay takes considerable liberties with the truth, and this lessens the impact of the story. Particularly compromised is the character of the white cop, overplayed by the usually reliable Dan Hedaya, who, according to the film, single-mindedly harrassed Carter since his childhood. Inaccuracies aside, the film is distinguished by another fine performance from Denzel Washington as the imprisoned boxer and an equally good one from young Vicellous Reon Shannon as Lesra.
