Synopsis

Rubin "Hurricane" Carter is a gifted middleweight boxer whose promising career is shattered when he is convicted of a triple murder in Paterson, New Jersey. Years later, a teenager in Toronto discovers Carter's autobiography and, with help from his mentors, begins working to challenge the conviction and restore Carter's freedom and reputation.

Factoids & Trivia

• The screenplay draws on Carter's autobiography, The Sixteenth Round: From Number 1 Contender to 45472, as well as Sam Chaiton and Terry Swinton's book Lazarus and the Hurricane.

• Denzel Washington trained with a boxing coach for more than a year and lost approximately 60 pounds to create a leaner physical likeness of Carter.

• The film was shown in an unfinished form at the 1999 Toronto International Film Festival. It reportedly lacked final credits and proper color timing, and had been assembled from hundreds of pieces shortly before its screening.

• A title card acknowledges that some characters were combined or invented and that certain incidents were fictionalized. The film later drew criticism for simplifying the legal case and giving the Canadian supporters a larger role than they had in the real events.

• Bob Dylan's protest song "Hurricane," which had introduced Carter's story to a wide audience in the 1970s, appears on the soundtrack.

• Washington received the 2000 Golden Globe for Best Actor in a Motion Picture - Drama and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor.