Richard Jewell (2019) Review

"I'm law enforcement too."
-Richard Jewell



Security guard Richard Jewell (Paul Walter Hauser) saves many lives when he notices a bomb in a city park during the Atlanta 1996 Olympics.  At first, Jewell is considered a national hero, but then the press leaks out that the FBI is looking at Jewell as a suspect.  As he faces a trial by media, Jewell turns to an old coworker and lawyer, Watson Bryant (Sam Rockwell), for help.


What Works:

Sam Rockwell is hands down the best part of the movie.  He plays an angry lawyer who strongly dislikes the government and I love the character.  Rockwell is the vessel for the audiences.  Jewell doesn't really get angry during the film.  He leaves that to Bryant and he expresses the outrage the audience feels.  

I loved Paul Walter Hauser in I, Tonya and BlacKkKlansman so I was really exciting to see he got the lead role in this.  Hauser does a great job at portraying this character and I hope he continues to get work.  He's really a fantastic actor.

The bombing sequence is really intense.  I'm not very familiar with this event, so I wasn't sure if people died or what.  I just knew that bomb was going to go off.  As Jewell and the police try to clear the scene, I was on the edge of my seat wondering when it was going to blow.  Excellent job by director Clint Eastwood.

Finally, Jon Hamm is a solid antagonist as the main FBI agent going after Jewell.  His attempts to manipulate Jewell make you want to scream at the guy.  This movie does a great job at making you angry, which is its goal, and Hamm is a big part of that.


What Sucks:

The character of Richard Jewell is extremely difficult to root for because he is incredibly stupid at times.  At several points he allows himself to be manipulated by the FBI simply because he respects their authority.  This is really frustrating for me to watch because it's so obvious what they are doing and he falls for it.  

There was a lot of controversy surrounding this film in regards to the portrayal of Kathy Scruggs (Olivia Wilde), a reporter who broke the story that the FBI were looking into Jewell.  In the film, she is portrayed as having sex with Hamm's character in order to get information out of him.  From what I've read, there is absolutely no evidence that this occurred.  Kathy Scruggs was a real person who has since passed away and can't defend herself.  Considering this movie is about a man who's character was assassinated, it's really hypocritical that the film does the same thing to Scruggs.  Hamm's character was not named after a real person.  If they had to have this reporter in the film, at least make it a fictional character.  

Finally, the movie does lose some energy as it nears its end.  The film peaks too early and the finale simply isn't as entertaining as what came before it.


Verdict:

Richard Jewell is a solid movie with great performances from Rockwell, Hauser, and Hamm plus an excellent bombing sequences.  Unfortunately, Richard Jewell himself is hard to root for, the movie loses steam near the end, and the defamation of Kathy Scruggs' character was wildly inappropriate, especially given the nature of the film.

 7/10: Good 

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