The Film: The Hurricane (1999)
The Hollywood Version: “Based on the inspirational true story of a champion.” And it is inspirational – it’s tough not to cheer when Rubin Carter (Denzel Washington), a boxer accused of murder is freed when his conviction is quashed.
He’s helped by Lesra Martin (Vicellous Reon Shannon) and his three Canadian law mentors who read his book and decide to investigate the case.
They discover racist cops and a conspiracy.
Just The Facts: Controversial one, this, since the movie appears very loosely “based” on the story.
And there are lots of people who say Rubin Carter wasn’t quite as innocent as he made out – he was convicted twice, but the case was thrown out as an unfair trial.
Also, while Lesra Martin and three Canadian law students did indeed help Carter’s case, they never discovered pivotal evidence that secured his freedom. The main police officer was a fictional version of the man involved.
Oh, and while he was in the military, he was court marshalled four times and eventually discharged as "unfit for military service."
Comments
EthanRunt
Jun 3rd 2009, 14:51
So Fargo never stretched the truth from the story it's based on? Interesting.
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MarkPowell
Jun 3rd 2009, 18:21
@ EthanRunt: Fargo is wholly fictional. It merely *declares* tself a true story, (more or less) an outright lie - as (more or less) freely admitted by the Coens.
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adammiller2k
Jun 4th 2009, 7:18
Ben Hur? Did Jesus really give Charlton Heston some water? Were Romans really that homoerotic?
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Rusty4bears
Jun 8th 2009, 8:18
What about A Perfect Storm?? That started fibbing the moment that they lost radio communication with land...15 minutes in.
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