The film stars Denzel Washington as Rubin "The Hurricane" Carter, a former middleweight boxer who was wrongly convicted of a triple murder in a bar in Paterson, New Jersey.

The film depicts Carter's arrest, his life in prison, and how he was freed by the love and compassion of a teenager from Brooklyn named Lesra Martin and his Canadian foster family.

The film received positive reviews and won several awards, including a Golden Globe for Best Actor - Motion Picture Drama for Washington's performance.

In 1966, Rubin "Hurricane" Carter was a promising and top-ranked middleweight boxer from Patterson, New Jersey, who was expected by many fans in to become the world's greatest boxing champion.

Following the second trial that sent Carter and Artis back to prison, Lesra Martin, an underprivileged Afro-American youth from Brooklyn, goes to live in Toronto with a group of Canadian activists who see his academic potential and offter to raise him as his tutors.

[4] Armyan Bernstein purchased the filming rights through Beacon Pictures, and went on to write the first scripts while establishing a financing partnership with Irving Azoff.

The film was praised by Lesra Martin, who described it as "a stupendous depiction of accurate events", and John Artis, Carter's friend who was convicted with him, said he “was in awe to see what unfolded and not have to feel the pressure I felt at the time.” An objection was held by H. Lee Sarokin, the federal judge who freed Carter, saying that unlike his portrayal by Rod Steiger “I’m a lower-key guy.”[9] The film opened in North American limited release on December 29, 1999.

The consensus reads: "Thanks in large part to one of Denzel Washington's most powerful on-screen performances, The Hurricane is a moving, inspirational sports drama, even if it takes few risks in telling its story.

This is strong stuff, and I was amazed, after feeling some impatience in the earlier reaches of the film, to find myself so deeply absorbed in its second and third acts, until at the end I was blinking at tears.

If his Hurricane is an inspiring portrait of nobility, it is because the actor never conceals the demons of fury and despair gnawing beneath his character's forcefully articulate surface.

"[14] Alex von Tunzelmann, writing for The Guardian, gave the film a "B", but cited issues with historical accuracy, including depictions of Carter's military service, prior criminal record, and the Giardello fight.

[16] Former middleweight World Champion Joey Giardello sued the film's producers for libel over the depiction of his fight with Carter as a "racist fix."

Eventually, the case was settled out of court, with the producers paying the retired champion damages and with Jewison agreeing to make a statement on the DVD version that "Giardello no doubt was a great fighter.