Directed by: Clint Eastwood
Starring: Paul Walter Hauser, Sam Rockwell, Jon Hamm, Olivia Wilde, Kathy Bates
Richard Jewell, a Centennial Park security guard during the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, discovered a pipe bomb in an abandoned backpack and saved lives by warning bystanders away from the eventual explosion. He was rightfully lauded as a hero, and after an interview with Katie Couric, his world was rocked by an FBI investigation targeting him as the bomber. The reason for the initial investigation, detailed by Agent Tom Shaw (Hamm), is the natural suspicion akin to suspecting the person who discovered a murder victim's body. What made Jewell a target of intense media scrutiny was Shaw's leak of the investigation to reporter Kathy Scruggs (Wilde), who promised sexual favors as quid pro quo for the tip, at least in the movie.
Jewell went from hero to perceived monster in a matter of days. The hefty, socially awkward Jewell and his mother Bobi (Bates) did not anticipate the media would be camped outside their home 24/7. Because of Jewell's worship of law enforcement, he is entirely too cooperative with the agents looking to build a case against him. Jewell's lawyer, Watson Bryant (Rockwell), commands Jewell not to talk, but the guy just can't help himself. It's as if he is giddily picking out just the right size noose for his own hanging.
Clint Eastwood's Richard Jewell is a story of an innocent man's life being wrecked by an overly ambitious FBI agent and a reporter looking for a scoop. Both refuse to even contemplate the possibility that Jewell is innocent. Despite the mounting lack of evidence and unsubstantiated speculation, Shaw and Scruggs dig in like ticks, mostly because they don't wish to look foolish. They've painted themselves into a corner and come out swinging, mostly because they must.
Jewell, as played by Hauser (he was one of the dimwitted conspirators in I, Tonya), is not a lovable teddy bear, but someone who doesn't quite understand the situation he's found himself in. In the early scenes, he is a police officer wannabe who insufferably throws his weight around as a college dormitory security guard. The dean fires him for doing his job with too much zeal. Years later, he is in Centennial Park pathetically trying to ingratiate himself with the police officers on duty, who don't see him as an equal. That changes briefly following the explosion, until Shaw and Scruggs intervened. We sympathize with Jewell because, how could we not?
Eastwood moves things along efficiently as he usually does. Despite the two-hour plus running time, Richard Jewell doesn't drag. Eastwood, working from a script by Billy Ray, doesn't pound us over the head with a damnation of the media or government who got this whole story wrong. Sam Rockwell's Bryant is not on a crusade, he simply wants to have his client exonerated and protect him, even from himself if necessary. Kathy Bates gives the movie's most passionate performance, as a mother who only wants everyone to leave her and her son alone. She implores in a statement to the press to declare her son innocent so she and her son can go on with their lives. It is a speech that resonates.
At 89, Clint Eastwood is a marvel. He has made a copious output of films in recent years tackling misunderstood heroes and older characters who can teach the technologically advanced youngsters a thing or two. Richard Jewell is an example of the type of movie Eastwood does best: Lean, efficient storytelling with resonant themes. He likes the audience to think, not simply react. His Richard Jewell is human, and not simply a symbol of what happens when professionals with the power to wreck lives recklessly perform their duties. The aftermath of the Olympic bombing should've been one of professional pride for Jewell. Instead, he is fighting for his life against allegations which had no substance, and may have eventually hastened his death in 2007.
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