Filmmaker Norman Jewison has collected a dozen Academy Awards and 45 nominations. You have to figure he knows what he's doing, and what he's doing with The Hurricane is presenting a riveting story of injustice and redemption and doing so with a superb cast.

 Rubin "Hurricane" Carter was a middleweight boxer from New Jersey who was arrested in the late '60s for a triple murder. Carter and his friend John Artis were convicted of the crimes, even though there was overwhelming evidence that they had had nothing to do with the shootings.

 Despite the international attention brought to the case by the attempted intervention of such celebrities as Bob Dylan and Muhammad Ali, Carter spent 22 years in prison for a crime he did not commit.

 Rough road

 Carter is portrayed by Denzel Washington in The Hurricane. The film, not exactly a biopic, makes it clear that Carter had a rough road in childhood and adolescence, and by the time he is picked up for the murders, a sense of hopelessness hangs over everything.

 In time, a handful of Canadians (played by John Hannah, Deborah Kara Unger and Liev Schreiber) and a young man named Lesra Martin (Vicellous Reon Shannon) are instrumental in winning freedom for Rubin Carter.

 The impact of The Hurricane is in Washington's performance, particularly in those scenes devoted to the changes the boxer undergoes while incarcerated and to the relationship he forms with Lesra Martin.

 All the performances are strong and the story is fascinating, but The Hurricane isn't perfect -- there are soggy bits (most of the segments set in Canada) and the film is much too long.

 On the other hand, it's hardly a chore to watch the work of David Paymer, Dan Hedaya, Debbi Morgan, Rod Steiger, Harris Yulin and the rest of the support cast.

 The Hurricane has a screenplay from Armyan Bernstein and Dan Gordon.

 It is based on Carter's own book, The Sixteenth Round, and on another book, Lazarus And The Hurricane, by Terry Swinton and Sam Chaiton, two of the people who helped Carter in his bid for freedom.

 Important

 The Hurricane is an important document on many fronts, depicting a time in America as much as the details of one man's survival.

 This is a complex story and a great film.

(This film is rated AA)

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