denzel washington is among the many actors this holiday season to give very impressive milestone performances . 
this perhaps may be washington's very best to date . 
he joins matt damon and jim carrey in having the talent , this season , to become his character , copying mannerisms and personal styles perfectly . 
his very believable performance makes the long and uninteresting " the hurricane " a much better film than it actually is . 
when his rubin " hurricane " carter feels pain and is tormented by racism , he creates for the audience a great sense of sympathy , disgust , and maybe even some embarrassment from the fact that this is our very own country that is breaking laws to support silly prejudices . 
the horrific true events carter suffered from all of his life are slightly more disturbing and terrifying because they only took place a few decades ago . 
the powerful expressions of denzel washington alone , as his tortured carter , sum up the troubles of racism in america's history . 
he is that amazing . 
the problem with " the hurricane " is that when compared to washington , all of the other actors are not nearly as memorable in their roles . 
mainly because the script focuses so much on carter , that it leaves little interest or room for the other actors . 
this is , without a doubt , washington's movie but in order for any film to be completely satisfying , it must utilize everyone in the cast to their highest potential not just the stars . 
denzel washington is the only reason to see this film for his inspirational and very depressing tour de force performance . 
as rubin carter , we see a black man whose existence has been a punching bag for the white american court system . 
>from the age of eleven to twenty one he was sent to a juvenile prison for a crime he did not commit . 
then after a successful marriage and boxing career , he was harshly imprisoned again for life after being framed for a triple murder . 
carter's second term in prison seemed almost inevitable when faced off against jealous , powerful white men who refused to let him succeed . 
from these past experiences in jail , carter realized that he must make his case heard for all of america . 
after several court appeals , an autobiography , and many public marches for his freedom , carter remained locked in prison . 
it was not until a young black boy from brooklyn being educated in toronto read carter's book in the 1980's , that a serious battle for freedom took place . 
the young boy and his three canadian guardians decide to dedicate all of their time to the case until carter is released . 
the greatest scenes in the film are when carter begins to lose his mind after spending three months in isolation . 
washington really shows the breakdown of carter when after swearing he would never go to jail again , he is unfairly framed at the height of his innocent career . 
the devastation in washington's eyes show a man who has struggled to do the right thing his whole life only to be punished for it . 
in the hole , carter attempts to maintain emotional balance but he cannot . 
his anger is heightened to a point of no control . 
we see multiple carters , a violent angry one , a silent passive one , and a mediator . 
we see an emotional boxing match inside carter's head . 
from this point in the hole to the end of the film , this fight continues . 
it is very apparent at times which side is winning the battle and in some scenes there is a direct switch from angry to caring or the opposite . 
when carter sees that white canadians want to help him get out of prison , the angry carter at first erupts . 
white people have been trying to hurt him his whole life , this reminder leads to anger in his head . 
however , as the film continues and the canadians continue to help carter we see the calm side him . 
he realizes that society is changing . 
that racism is decreasing and now carter wants to leave jail immediately and become a part of this world . 
very rarely have i seen such determination to perfect his role as washington has done here . 
if only the other actors had this same determination . 
dan hedaya , ridiculously plays the man who sends carter to prison twice by forcing witnesses to lie and switching evidence around . 
it felt like his character was taken straight out of a " scooby doo " episode ; he would have gotten away with it if it wasn't for those annoying little kids . 
 " the kids " in this film are the three canadians who are terribly underused making their relationship with carter underdeveloped and unbelievable . 
the lawyers who help release carter also are underused , as is clancy brown as a kind prison guard ( the complete opposite of his character in " shawshank redemption " ) . 
there is a great amount of talent in this supporting cast but it just never appears . 
hedaya was superb in " clueless , " same for david paymer in " get shorty , " harris yulin in " ghostbusters " and liev schreiber in " the daytrippers . " 
it is a mystery how this many actors signed on to such shallow roles . 
on the other hand , it is absolutely no mystery why denzel washington agreed to play rubin " hurricane " carter . 
this role is about as far off from shallow as you can get .