I remember hearing about The Hurricane when it came out in 1999, but I wasn’t able to go see it. And then I just kind of forgot about it. Until recently when it popped into my head, and I haven’t been able to think of anything else. I finally sat down and watched it, and I was surprised to find that it has a lot in common with another excellent movie about an innocent man unjustly sent to prison: 1994’s The Shawshank Redemption.

In fact, The Hurricane feels like a natural follow-up, or even a companion film, to The Shawshank Redemption. I’m excited to share with you all of the ways that it builds on the themes of that film.

Passing the Baton

The Hurricane picks up pretty close to where The Shawshank Redemption ends. We see Andy Dufresne in prison from 1947 to 1966, and then his friend Ellis “Red” Redding gets out on parole the following year.

And we see Rubin “Hurricane” Carter get sent to jail in 1966 where he languishes until 1985 when he is finally acquitted. Of course, one film is purely fictional while the other is based on a true story. It’s just interesting how closely the two align, almost like the earlier film passes the baton to The Hurricane and then off it goes.

19 Years

Going along with the last point, isn’t it interesting that we see the main characters spend about 19 years in prison in both movies? Andy breaks out of prison after 19 years, and Carter is acquitted after 19 years.

Two Characters in One

Andy is the only truly innocent man at Shawshank Prison, while Red is the only guilty man because he accepts his youthful actions as a terrible crime. They represent the extremes of hope and despair, both of which help them to get out of prison.

Carter is innocent of the crime he was convicted of, and he writes an entire book defending himself. He tries to fight against despair in many ways, but it’s only when he embraces hope that he finds his way to freedom. He feels a lot like a cross between two characters because he’s an innocent man like Andy and he has to take Red’s journey to emerge victorious.

Hope

The biggest weapon both Andy and Carter use to fight despair is hope. Red, contrastingly, is afraid to hope he’ll ever receive his freedom because he’s been in prison for so long. But by the end, he learns a valuable lesson from Andy, “Hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies.”

Carter is afraid of hoping for anything or anyone outside of himself because those in power could take it away. By the end, he learns to put his trust in good people who want to help him, and he learns a valuable lesson, “Hate put me in here. Love is gonna bust me out.”

90 Days in the Hole

Spending any amount of time in the hole is close to a death sentence. Solitary confinement causes even someone as tough as Andy to come close to cracking. We understand how hard two months are on a seasoned prisoner like him.

So when we hear that Carter gets three months right off the bat, we are dumbfounded. He makes it through, and that’s when we see the biggest miracle in this movie. It actually makes us like Clancy Brown!

Clancy Brown’s Redemption

If The Shawshank Redemption could be retitled Red’s Redemption, then The Hurricane could also be called Clancy Brown’s Redemption. He played the brutal captain of the guard in The Shawshank Redemption, but he’s transformed into a totally different type of character in The Hurricane.

He’s also a prison guard in this movie, but his temperament is kindly and patient rather than stern and coldblooded. Seeing Clancy Brown’s character being nice to Carter at the start of the movie lets us know that this is going to challenge our preconceptions. We’re used to him being a bad guy. But now he’s willing to bend the rules for Carter, and he is totally on that poor man’s side.

Three Life Sentences

Andy is forced to serve two life sentences in prison, one for each person he supposedly murdered. And he lives a double life behind bars, pretending to be serving the warden’s money-laundering scheme, all the while creating a new identity for himself.

Carter is also given life sentences for each person he supposedly murdered, but in his case it’s three. And he splits into three personalities: his normal self, his fearful self, and his angry self. He first conquers his fear by refusing to wear prison clothes, and then he conquers his anger by learning to hope.

Racial Element

The Shawshank Redemption sidesteps any racial elements of its story, even making a joke out of them by having Red say that he’s Irish when he’s clearly not. He reluctantly accepts Andy’s help, never even commenting on his race. At the end of the film, Red embraces Andy as a fellow survivor of their crucible.

The Hurricane delves headfirst into the racial elements of its story, clearly pointing out that the police officers, lawyers, and judges were all prejudiced against Carter. He has trouble accepting help from several white Canadians who offer him their legal services, thinking that they could be just as bad as the men who put him in prison. However, he is able to look past his pain and see that they are true friends, and they embrace when he wins his case.

The Law Was Out to Get Him

There is no conspiracy to put Andy in prison, but there is certainly a conspiracy to keep him there by the warden. That’s because he knows too much about the corruption taking place inside the prison.

Sadly, there is a conspiracy to put Carter in prison because he knows too much about the evil of a powerful white man in the town he grew up in. Thankfully, the warden is actually sympathetic to his plight, and he helps him in his attempt to obtain his freedom.

Young Man Learns How to Read from the Hero

Tommy is an uneducated petty crook who gets sent to Shawshank Prison for a brief time. Andy helps him learn how to read, and it turns out that Tommy has evidence that Andy is innocent. He could have helped Andy get out of jail if he hadn’t been murdered.

Lesra is an uneducated young black man who gets to live away from his impoverished family with some caring white people for a long time. They help him learn to read with the aid of Carter’s book, and it turns out that he believes Carter and wants to prove him innocent. He survives an attempt on his life and helps Carter get out of jail.

Meeting with the Warden

Tommy gets unexpectedly pulled out of the prison one night and asked to speak to the warden privately. We think it’s to ask him to help clear Andy’s name and help him get out of prison. But it turns out to be a setup to make it look like he was trying to escape and give the warden an excuse to have him killed.

When something similar happens to Carter, it puts the audience on edge. He gets unexpectedly pulled out of his cell one night and asked to speak to the warden privately. We worry that he’s going to have Carter killed. But it turns out that he’s just warning Carter about the danger that others outside the prison pose to him and his friends. The warden doesn’t want any of them to get killed.

Reading Saves the Day

On his way out of prison, Andy mails a letter to the Portland Daily Bugle, informing them about all of the corruption that has been happening at Shawshank Prison. The editor reads it and almost immediately publishes an article that lands the warden and others in hot water.

At the start of his time at prison, Carter writes and publishes a book, detailing the lies and corruption that landed him in prison. Lesra reads it and sets in motion a series of events that eventually helps Carter get out of prison.

Inmates Celebrate Escape from Prison

We get to know several of Andy’s fellow inmates well, and they all celebrate when Andy escapes prison.

We only get to know one of Carter’s fellow inmates, but he and every other inmate celebrate when Carter is released from prison.

Leaving the United States

After Andy escapes from Shawshank Prison, he heads south, leaving the United States for Mexico.

After Carter is released from prison, he heads north, leaving the United States for Canada.

New England Setting

The Shawshank Redemption is set in Maine, which is typical of nearly every Stephen King story.

The Hurricane is also set in the Northeast of the United States, but this time it’s New Jersey.

The Perfect Complement

Watching The Shawshank Redemption first only sweetens the experience of watching The Hurricane. There are so many moments and characters that hint at things in The Shawshank Redemption. And when they go in a different direction than we expect, it only serves to make us more intrigued and invested in the story.

The perfect compliment I can give The Hurricane is that it perfectly complements The Shawshank Redemption without feeling like a repeat. It is its own beast, letting us agonize with Carter every step of the way on his journey to prison and back out. The Shawshank Redemption never lets us into Andy’s mind, so we don’t get to see how deeply prison life affects him. But we do see into Carter’s mind, and we understand what depths he falls to before he’s able to rise and overcome his inner demons of doubt and hatred.

These are two masterful films in their own right. And if you’d like a new rewarding experience, try watching them together. It’s a one-two punch of heartbreak and heroism.

This is the Deja Reviewer bidding you farewell until we meet again.

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