In the summer of 1996, all eyes were on Atlanta, Georgia, the site of the Summer Olympics. There were celebrations, parties, concerts, everything expected from such an event. Joy and fun and good times abounded. But on July 27, that all changed when a bomb went off in Centennial Park.
One person died (one more died of a heart attack while running towards the scene) with 111 others injured. It could have been much worse, though, were it not for the actions of security guard Richard Jewell. On duty that night during a Jack Mack and the Heart Attack concert, he spotted an unattended backpack underneath a bench and alerted authorities. The bomb squad was called in, and it was at this point that Jewell’s fears were confirmed: someone planted a bomb at Centennial park.
Police and event security began evacuating the area as quickly as possible. These actions saved countless lives as the bomb detonated only a few minutes after they started the evacuation. Richard Jewell was a hero.
Or at least he should have been. It wasn’t long before news outlets reported that Jewell was himself a suspect. What followed was the destruction of Jewell’s life, as he became the subject of an investigation while the real culprit remained at large. The Richard Jewell story director Clint Eastwood tells centers on Jewell himself and the effects of a sloppy, unjust investigation.
Anchored by acting
Eastwood and screenwriter Billy Ray take an overall simplistic look at the events surrounding the Centennial Park Bombing. The movie is called Richard Jewell, after all, so it makes sense that its focus would be on this one man, rather than the larger scope of the story. The FBI centers their investigation on Jewell, as he fits their “lone bomber” profile.
While the script is solid, it’s nothing spectacular, and this allows for the actors to do most of the heavy lifting. Paul Walter Hauser, in the title role, is astonishing. He is seemingly coming into his own as a performer, with highly praised recent roles in I, Tonya and BlackKklansman. Richard Jewell is his first shot at a true leading role, and he takes it and runs with it.
In both I, Tonya and BlackKklansman, he plays a bit of a doofus. Someone who thinks more highly of himself than any reasonable person would. But here, he’s just a kind, gentle man who wants to do his part in making his community a better place. Hauser disappears into this role and owns the screen the entire time.
In the biggest supporting roles, Kathy Bates and Sam Rockwell are equally great as Jewell’s mother Bobi and his attorney Watson Bryant, respectively. Bobi brings out the emotion, with crushing scene after crushing scene, watching her son go through something so terrible. And Watson provides a dose of much-needed levity while keeping the Jewell’s on track while they fight this case. But as fantastic as they both are, this is Jewell’s story, and both Bates and Rockwell gladly fade into the background when needed to let Hauser take center stage.
Emotional and empathetic
With the attention focused on the Jewells and Bryant, the story allows ample opportunity for the audience to make a sincere connection to these protagonists. The story is very clearly on Jewell’s side (and rightfully so) and it lays it on thick. You can’t help but feel sorry for the man with a long time dream of being a cop who has to sit there as those he idolizes make a mockery of the justice system, all while mocking him and his law enforcement dreams. Every snide remark from an FBI agent cuts the audience. It’s made even more heartbreaking as Jewell can’t help himself from trying to offer assistance to the FBI. He cares so much about “the process” and doing what’s right, he’s actively trying to help those who would vilify him. Granted, he’s doing this because he thinks it will help clear his name, but still. The level of cooperation is unbelievable. But that’s just who Richard Jewell was.
The controversy
Unfortunately, you can’t have a review for Richard Jewell without addressing the controversy surrounding the movie. The FBI’s investigation of Jewell becomes publicly known after FBI agent Tom Shaw (Jon Hamm) leaks that piece of information to Atlanta Journal-Constitution (AJC) reporter Kathy Scruggs (Olivia Wilde). Shaw lets this slip after Scruggs implies she’ll sleep with him for a tip. The argument can be made that this is not a straight up quid pro quo agreement. Shaw and Scruggs have some sort of past; though whether it was ever previously romantic or sexual is left up to interpretation. And Scruggs is the one who initiates it. If Shaw was too weak to resist, that’s on him. But even still, the optics aren’t great.
And what makes it worse is that Scruggs was a real reporter, while Shaw is simply a composite character. And what’s more unfair is the fact that Scruggs is unable to defend herself; she passed away in 2001. And Eastwood and Ray could have easily gone in a different direction. Scruggs could have dangled the idea of sex, gotten the information she wanted, and then left Shaw hanging. Or they could have changed Scruggs’ name; don’t make the character explicitly one specific person. It wouldn’t have been ideal, but it would have been better than implying, directly or indirectly, that Scruggs had done this in real life (there is no proof or evidence suggesting Scruggs ever exchanged sex for information on the case).
No good deed goes unpunished
That idea is part of the heart of this film. Richard Jewell was just a man doing his job, and doing it well. And he was targeted as a suspect because of it. Led by all-star performances, Richard Jewell effectively shows how terrible the consequences of being punished for that good deed can be.
The Verdict: 8.4/10
Richard Jewell is now playing in theaters everywhere.