It's amazing stories like these that I wish we got more of. I'm sure there are many more like this one that would be great for film as an avenue for people to learn about.
SYNOPSIS:
During the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, aspiring police officer Richard Jewell (Paul Walter Hauser) is working as security while he stumbles across a bag carrying a bomb. While law enforcement and the media praised him as a "hero" at first, the FBI begins to aggressively investigate the life of Richard Jewell as he becomes their number one suspect.
DIRECTION:
Clint Eastwood is great. I love him as a director and as an actor in most things I've seen with him, although I struggle to feel he did something no other Director could do. I'm really glad he chose this this story to put out to the world and whether it's purposeful or not, adding his name to this project will bring this story to more people. I don't want to give him too hard of a time though, because this isn't a film meant to focus around the direction. The story/writing of this film is the focal point and he still did a very good job getting it done. To add one negative I took away, there was a moment where an interview with the real Richard Jewell played on the television as his house and it through me off a bit.
WRITING:
The writing in this film was very good. It is based on a true story, so the story itself is largely what captured my attention. However, there are many movies based on or inspired by true stories where the writing couldn't really capture the heart of it and that is where the beauty of the writing lies. It's always hard to know exactly how everything went down and so whether this film is very accurate or mildly accurate, I'm glad they really focused on Richard Jewell and how it affected him and his family and how he was a real trooper through this whole process. There were a couple flaws that I did find with this film. There seemed to be some arc they were going for with Olivia Wilde's character that didn't really come to a close. Then with Tom Shaw (Jon Hamm) and Watson Bryant (Sam Rockwell), although their characters didn't have an arc to really be made with them, both of their parts ended quite abruptly. They were both vital to the story and the film didn't show me nor tell me anything about how either of those two continued after the fact. Well, there was a little info given about something Watson did, but nothing to do with Richard Jewell or his law firm that he had started (not a spoiler, was nothing integral to the story).
ACTING:
The acting is so good in this film. I can't say it's Hamm's best nor does Wilde really get a chance to fulfill the arc of her character due to the writing, but none-the-less great actors. Then you have Kathy Bates and holy crap does she deserve a Best Supporting nom. All I hear is "of course she's great, she's Kathy Bates)... AND? I'm sorry I didn't know that when you're consistently great that you should be penalized for it or receive any less attention. I get we come to expect it, but then what's the incentive to give your all if you'll just be tossed to the side, because of your positive reputation. That's totally backwards to me. Then Nina Arianda who played Nadya was awesome! She didn't have many scenes, but her back and forth with Sam Rockwell was hilarious and wonderful. Now, lets get to Paul Walter Hauser. Wow. I'm sorry, but this man is neck-and-neck with Adam Driver for me. He has not even been nominated for a Golden Globe or SAG Award? Did they even watch the film? I mean Sam Rockwell was great in this film too, but he's another one of those "yea, but he's too good to nominate. Wouldn't be fare." Paul Walter Hauser shows so much emotion and is SO good at being a man who is holding in his anger, because he respects law enforcement too much. Then in the scenes where he breaks are just tremendous. I will be sorely disappointed if he is not nominated this year.
CONCLUSION:
Richard Jewell is a great story about one of American's greatest heroes who probably didn't get enough praise for the job that he did. The story itself and Paul Walter Hauser was enough for me to really enjoy this film, unfortunately there were some flaws with the story with some of the characters and some of the writing. In the end, I would definitely recommend this film for anyone to watch. Richard Jewell is the nicest man I have never met and this is just another story to show that doesn't matter how kind and genuine you are, you'll always have someone try to tear you down.
