Movie Review: RICHARD JEWELL *** and 1\2 out of *****

Master filmmaker Clint Eastwood continues his series of films about underdogs and the wrongfully accused, with Richard Jewell (2019), a compelling, well-crafted drama about the eponymous character, a security guard during the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia, who was wrongfully accused of planting the bomb that injured dozens and killed two during the event.

Paul Walter Hauser portrays the character as a conscientious if eccentric man obsessed with American law enforcement, a man whose ultimate dream is to become a police officer. But due to his weight and laconic, childlike manner, people take him for granted, that is, till he finds himself suspect number one in a terrorist attack. Hauser, in his first starring role, is a wonder to behold, stealing the movie with his understated, touching portrayal of a well-meaning ne'er-do-well with passion to spare. And as the events surrounding his character grow more and more troubling, Hauser imbues Jewell with layer upon layer, subtly communicating a wealth of emotions with a look or a phrase. Sam Rockwell and Kathy Bates (in one of the best performances of her career as Jewell's mother) deliver ample support, but this is Hauser's show.

For Eastwood, this is yet another understated triumph, another story of injustice well-told, although this time the true story's implications are more troubling than usual, with the damning portrayal of the media and the FBI and their reaction to the Atlanta bombing the stuff of nightmares. No wonder the movie received little if no love from the mass media. It is a "politically incorrect" film with a troubling message about how the American media builds up heroes to sell papers, and then viciously tears them down to sell more papers, destroying people's lives in the process, and how governments are glaringly fallible when it comes to dealing with acts of terrorism, focusing on knee-jerk, headline-grabbing actions in place of seeking the truth. In this day and age, this makes Richard Jewell a brave film about a brave man who dared do his job well and never lose faith in what he believed in.

Text © Ahmed Khalifa. 2020.

Ahmed Khalifa is a filmmaker and novelist. He is the writer/director of the feature film Wingrave, released on Netflix, and the author of a number of novels and short stories, including the YA horror novel, Beware The Stranger, available on Amazon.