A rage filled and relevant retelling of a pivotal moment that highlighted the manipulative and ego-driven nature of democracy’s gatekeepers, Richard Jewell also highlights director Clint Eastwood’s ability to represent the stories of heroic American’s through sobering, yet emotional on key filmmaking.
The prolific, tenacious nature of Clint Eastwood is to be admired. At 90 years of age, there is nothing the acclaimed filmmaker and movie star has achieved, yet still he is going strong. Richard Jewell, the 41st film directed by Eastwood, once again shows the Oscar winning legend on top of his game. It also shows his ability to gravitate towards true-life stories of regular people caught in extraordinary situations, forgotten in time, yet incredibly relevant to our day and age.
Set during the 1996 Olympic games in Atlanta, Georgia, Richard Jewell tells the story of burly security guard Richard Jewell (Paul Walter Hauser), who after locating a pipe-bomb and evacuating a packed outdoor event (resulting in numerous lives being saved), was subjected to a smear campaign by the local and national press, not to mention a less than professional investigation by the FBI.
Playing the role of Jewell is Paul Walter Hauser, who made an impact as a delusional “bodyguard” in I, Tonya. Hauser is terrific here, portraying the naivete and unrigged admiration for authorities that Jewell was raised to respect, only to find his foundations crumble around him at the hand of overzealous manipulators of the truth. The unabashed patriotic purity of Jewell’s zeal towards law enforcement, and indeed authorities of all kind, results in a character that is tragic, sympathetic, frustrating, and even comedic in some parts. Hauser hits all of these notes with pitch perfect precision, delivering one of the best performances of the year.
Sam Rockwell is excellent as Watson Bryant, the down on his luck attorney who represents Jewell, and is gobsmacked not only by the callous nature of the media and law enforcement, but also Jewell’s permissive and even at times grovelling attitude towards his persecutors. Rockwell delivers some great lines here, and his extra improvisational flourishes add to one of his best performances yet. Great too is Kathy Bates as Jewell’s besieged upon mother, delivering one of the films best scenes as she tearily pleads to the nations media to stop the persecution of her son. Jon Hamm and Olivia Wilde both deliver the right amount of venom as the film’s arrogant ego-driven villains.
Eastwood reunites with previous contributors in cinematographer Yves Belanger (The Mule), long time editor Joel Cox (Unforgiven), and production designer Kevin Ishioka (Sully), to recreate a mid to late ‘90s setting where social media was non-existent. Ye even though Richard Jewell is a story over 20 years old, it is incredibly relevant as a story about sensationalism, stereotype, and the destructive nature of gossip and mob-rule.
It is indeed human nature for the darker recesses of the populace to place their prejudices on those they feel are monstrous or guilty. That is exactly why the gatekeepers of the truth, those tasked to sift the fact from the fiction, are so important to our society. Richard Jewell shows the breakdown of those important structures with terrifying, yet important clarity.
