Reviewed by Victor Rebikoff.
Director: Clint Eastwood, Warner Bros, M 131 Minutes.
Legendary actor/filmmaker Clint Eastwood has directed another captivating biography based on the compelling book written by Kent Alexander and Kevin Salween that dramatically depicts the true story of a security guard’s life-saving actions in the 1996 Olympics bombing.
The movie opens in 1986, where Richard Jewell (Paul Walter Hauser of ‘Late Night’) is working as a supply clerk for an amiable boss, lawyer Watson Bryant (Sam Rockwell of ‘Vice’), before he becomes a security guard at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics.
It is during a crowded concert at the Centennial Olympic Park, which his mother Bobbi (Kathy Bates of ‘The Boss’) previously attended, that Richard discovers a suspicious backpack under a bench.
After alerting the police, Richard heroically begins pushing back the crowds nearest to the site before the bomb explodes.
Richard is praised for his actions and later appears on all the major television networks to tell his story.
His fame is short-lived however, when FBI agent Tom Shaw (Jon Hamm of ‘Tag’) reveals to unscrupulous journalist Kathy Scruggs (Olivia Wilde of ‘Meadowland’) details of his preliminary investigation that points to Jewell as the possible suspect.
Scruggs’ subsequent front page newspaper story on Jewell casts doubt on his hero status.
Finding himself hounded by the FBI and an uncaring media, Richard calls in a former friend – his lawyer, Watson Bryant and the fight to clear his name begins.
Somewhat akin to ‘American Sniper’, Eastwood has again chosen to focus on a flawed character in Richard Jewell – a social outcast intent on becoming a law enforcement officer despite his earlier failures in taking on similar security type jobs.
Notwithstanding the shortcomings of the main character, Eastwood’s enthralling biographical drama is extremely critical of the US justice system and the media for falsely accusing Jewell, the unsung hero of the Atlanta Olympics bombing.
In addition to a gripping storyline, the main enjoyment in this film is derived from a great cast with superb performances by Hauser, Rockwell and Bates – not to mention the portrayals by Hamm as FBI agent Shaw and Wilde as journalist Scruggs.
Vic’s Verdict: 4 Stars
