I thought The Mule was going to be Clint Eastwood’s last movie, but I guess not. He’s not in front of the camera here, and maybe I’m confusing his departure from filmmaking with his last acting performance. If so, ain’t I a silly goose…
And I just want to make a special mention of the poster for Richard Jewell. Just look at it; I love how it’s got all the main players – Paul Walter Houser, Sam Rockwell, Kathy Bates, Olivia Wilde and John Hamm – all imposed into a generic media scrum. I just really like it, seems inventive to me. It’s art imitating life, as cringy as I know that sounds. They should have a recognisable award for the best movie poster of the year; the designers get to put forward one official poster for their movie and people vote. I put forward this poster as the first candidate for 2020.
Richard Jewell tells the story of the FBI investigation into the security guard responsible for alerting authorities to the bomb planted at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. Naturally, the FBI look into Richard Jewell (Paul Walter Houser) as a potential suspect, but they run with it, relentlessly harassing the man and his Momma, Bobby (Kathy Bates) without any real cause. Jewell calls in Watson Bryant (Sam Rockwell), a past acquaintance, to be his lawyer, and help guide him through his problematic and potentially unlawful governmental inquiry and media barrage.
I think we’ve all met someone like Richard Jewell; genuinely noble, but there’s something a little off with him. It might seem like Jewell is a simpleton but he’s also dutiful, goes the extra mile and has a rapport with colleagues and local law enforcement in his area, even if they may rib him behind his back. When the unattended backpack is confirmed to be a bomb, Richard Jewell’s dedication to procedure saves lives and makes him a hero. Richard shares a sweet relationship with his mother; I like the moment where Bobby affirms Richard is still law enforcement even though he is only looking after sound equipment – perhaps journalist Kathy Scruggs (Olivia Wilde) and FBI Agent Shaw (John Hamm) could have benefited from some of Momma’s pep, as it’s their restlessness in their job assignments to the site of the explosion that fuels a thirst to catch the terrorist, even if it means hastily throwing Richard Jewell under the bus. Richard loves his Momma to bits, eventually getting mad at the FBI on her behalf, as he realises the bias investigation has tainted his Momma’s opportunity to be completely proud of her well-meaning son in his finest hour.
With my most recently reviewed movie, Dark Waters, still in my mind, I think it’s easier for a movie to connect an audience to a personal injustice rather than a bigger one – smaller relatable slights are simpler to stack together and be sympathised with. Yet, Richard Jewell even shows how the investigation snowballed out of FBI control, when the pressure was escalated by ambitious reporting from Scruggs, who scooped the suspect and leaked the FBI investigation to the world’s press. Admittedly, the FBI did get a sniff of something to look into Jewell, due to his past indiscretions, but the investigation quickly seems to turn into the dog walking the lead – they want Jewell to be guilty for their own ends, wrap the case up quickly and put the world’s focus back on the Olympics. Some of the tactics used by FBI Agent Shaw and FBI Agent Bennet (Ian Gomez) to try to get a forged confession out of Jewell are revolting, tricking him into coming into the station to shoot a promotional video and getting a voice recording from Jewell saying he planted the bomb; thank goodness Richard Jewell has the sense to initially suspect a trap, and thank goodness for lawyer Bryant favourably navigating the situation on behalf of his somewhat naive client thereafter.
Richard Jewell is a lot like Sully; another of Clint Eastwood’s later films, dealing with an accusation against an everyday American citizen who achieves something commendable, by excelling at their jobs in a moment of crisis. I especially appreciated Olivia Wilde in this movie; I actually went on an Olivia-Wilde-binge recently after getting back in touch with House M.D. and I reckon this might be close to Wilde’s best film performance to date – recall that I really loved her directorial debut last year too, Booksmart, so you could say, right now, I’m simply wild about Wilde, (ah, sometimes these zingers just write themselves – *pats self on the back*). Earlier this year, Kathy Bates was nominated for an Oscar for her contribution to this film and what can I say, the lady is a true talent, always consistent. She’s so believable as Richard’s mother in duress, she makes acting look effortless; I felt for her and it tugged at my heart strings. And the man himself; Paul Walter Hauser who plays Richard Jewell, is also really very good. I’ll always remember Hauser for his supporting role in I, Tonya, and I hope he continues to find roles that suit his expertise.
The movie can be sweet in parts, but it also feels like a pretty complete look into the Richard Jewell investigation from a few angles. I think this movie is fantastic – wonderfully well written by screenwriter Billy Ray and well-acted across the board. The actual bomb scene is also fraught with tension, and the recreated concerts delight in reflecting 1996. The crowd even does the Macarena; how much more mid-90s can you get?! If Clint Eastwood wants to keep bringing these trodden real-life heroes to my attention then I hope he keeps making movies until the end of days.
4.5
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