BLINDSPOTS:
Movie Reviews for Visually Impaired People
"The Hurricane," rated R and with a running time of about two and one half hours is a powerful story about prejudice, racism and one man's will to survive.
Lesra, played by Vicellous Reon Shannon, a troubled black teenager, has been taken in by three white Canadians in Toronto. They are sincere about helping him live a good life and encourage him to read and write. Lesra finds a book about a boxer, is fascinated by the boxer's story and writes him a letter. Rubin "Hurricane" Carter, Denzell Washington, writes back to Lesra from his prison cell and they begin a correspondence that eventually leads to Carter's exoneration for the crime that he didn't commit.
The movie, based on a true story, takes place in Patterson, New Jersey, exposing the depths of racism in all of our United States, not just the South. I think movies like this will help us, albeit ever so slowly, to move our society away from fear, irrationality and prejudice and towards building communities that are filled with compassion, empathy and justice for all!
From the visually impaired point of view. The beginning of this picture was a little confusing although there was some narrative which always helps. The first few scenes were abrupt and I needed my sighted assistant to inform me of the quick changes. There are a number of flashbacks that take place as Lesra begins to read the book. This too could be confusing without assistance. There are quite a few dates and places that appear as sub-titles at the beginning of scenes. Once again assistance is needed for this information. At the end of the movie there is a written epilogue that is crucial for you to know.
The first half of this film had many challenges including a scene when Hurricane is left in "the hole." What you hear is all the voices in his mind; his internal dialogue. The second half of the story was much easier to follow. By this time you are familiar with the characters and things start falling into a reasonable sequence. The movie ends with a long court scene that is easy to follow and totally inspiring. The theater broke out into spontaneous applause at the end. Pretty impressive.
This is a significant movie and, in spite of the early struggles I am going to give this one a 7.
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