It is a great story, but screenwriter Dan Gordon ("Murder in the First") treats the material in a pretty pedestrian fashion — in particular, his characterizations are superficial, even caricatures.

So it's up to veteran director Norman Jewison ("In the Heat of the Night," "Moonstruck" and most recently "Bogus") and Washington to add some class to the proceedings.

Fortunately, they seem to be up to the task, since Jewison's in-ring and in-court scenes are probably more exciting than they have a duty to be.

Much of that is due to Washington, who is extremely convincing playing both the twentysomething and fortysomething Carter. And he shows a surprising physical flair in the fight re-creations.

However, the supporting performances are a mixed bag. The relatively unknown Shannon is very good as Martin, but both Schreiber and Hannah struggle with bad Canadian accents, and the one-note Hedaya makes an extremely cliched villain.

"The Hurricane" is rated R for violent boxing action and some gunplay, profanity, a gory crime scene, use of racial epithets and brief male nudity.