Based on the 1996 Atlanta Olympics Bombing & How False News Hurt an Innocent Man

Kaleidoscope's newest is on Warner Bors. & Malpaso's production of "Richard Jewell".  Produced & directed by Clint Eastwood, the movie stars Sam Rockwell, Kathy Bates, Jon Hamm, Olivia Wilde, Nina Arianda, & Paul Walter Hauser.  Rated 'R', it has a running time of 2 hr., 11 min.

It is 1986, & Richard Jewell (Hauser) works as an office supplies worker in a small public law firm. Altho he is made fun of  because of his weight & seeming simple-mindedness, he forms a bond with his boss, attorney Watson Bryant (Rockwell).   Eventually, Jewell becomes a security guard at Piedmont College and moves toward his goal of being in law enforcement &, eventually, becoming a police officer. However, after 10 years filled with numerous complaints from students as well as acting outside his jurisdiction (stopping a car outside the school's borders, for instance), he is fired by the dean of the university. Moving back home with his mother Bobi (Bates), Jewell obtains a position as a security guard during the 1996 Atlanta Summer Olympics. Stationed at Centennial Park, Jewell along with other police and security officers, maintains security during the various concerts and events taking place, just like the Kenny Rogers concert Bobi attended the previous night.  It is here that Act I ends, transitioning to the next day's bombing & the complex web that soon entwines Jewell.

Director Eastwood experienced a major disappointment with 2018's "The 15:17 to Paris".  He regained his mojo with "The Mule" released later that year.  With "Richard Jewell", he reclaims his stellar reputation as a first-class director, a reputation he earned with such superior films as 1992's "Unforgiven", 2003's "Mystic River", 2004's "Million Dollar Baby", & 2014's "American Sniper".  Eastwood's reputation has always been that he delivers a film at or under budget, with very few multiple takes, & presents a straight-forward narrative without extraneous visual theatrics such as those employed by younger generations of directors.  All of these traits are present here, & they well serve the film.  Of course, for any director to have a successful end result, he/she must have an excellent script.  Billy Ray ("Capt. Phillips", "The Hunger Games", "Overlord) has given him just such a screenplay.  Ray's dialogue & situations well-complement Eastwood's vision.  As an example of Ray's succinct, well-crafted dialogue & composition, there is a scene early in Act I where Jewell gives Bryant a Snicker's bar.  When Bryant asks him why, Jewell responds that he had observed that Bryant's collection of the bars had been depleted.  It is here when Bryant sees Jewell as a human being.  Ray's skill as a screenwriter is plain here; in a brief seen he has shown how the 2 are decent, honest men who have formed a bond.  As I used to instruct my creative writing students, a good writer must show--not tell, & Ray has done just that.  Rockwell is excellent as attorney Bryant.  He delivers a performance that believably depicts a man who experiences a metamorphosis from being an ambulance-chaser into a principled lawyer who sees Jewell's plight as an affront to our constitutional system of justice where an innocent man is found guilty in the court of public opinion without due process.  The Oscar-winning Rockwell continues to demonstrate the diversity shown in roles as different as Dixon in "3 Billboards", George W. Bush in "Vice", C. P. Ellis in "The Best of Enemies", & Bob Fosse in "Fosse/Verdon".  Bates is the consummate pro who delivers an Oscar-worthy performance as Bobi who sees her world & her boy transition from hero to enemy in the matter of 4 days.  She well deserves her Golden Globe nomination for this role.  Hamm is stoic & determined as lead FBI investigator Tom Shaw.  He is a man who is thrust into the limelight by investigating a suspect he does not entirely believe is guilty.  Even in the film's denouement, his line, "I still believe your man is guilty" rings hollow.  Wilde is convincingly smarmy & duplicitous as the overly ambitious reporter Kathy Scruggs who gladly presents Jewell as the FBI's suspect, even tho there is no real evidence--only a specious profile.  The controversy that Scruggs may not have sexually seduced Shaw into revealing the name of the FBI's person of interest does not reduce the power of Wilde's performance.  She has come a long way from her mid-2000's role of Doctor '13' on Fox's "House".  Arianda, altho hers is a small role, commands the screen in her few brief scenes.  Essentially playing the same role that she has on Prime's "Goliath" series, she is a force of nature.  Hauser, in his 1st major role, is astounding as Jewell.  He takes the outwardly simple man of Richard Jewell and delivers a complex, rich performance that explores the many veneers of the character.  What complements the characterization is that Hauser looks so much like Jewell that he could be his doppleganger.  Yves Belanger's cinematography and long-time collaborator Joel Cox's editing augment Eastwood's vision.  One of Latin Jazz's foremost musicians, Arturo Sandoval has written a simple, spare, yet evocative score that underlies the film's emotional moments without calling attention to itself.

I give "Richard Jewell" 9 out of 10 nuggets.  This is cinema that captures a moment of our history from which we could learn lessons today.  It is a thoughtful, engaging film created by a master of the form.  Head to your local cineplex without delay for a truly rewarding experience.