I just came back from a prescreening of this film and just had to comment. It is a very timely and comes in a time in our country where the media picks who they want to deify and who they want to destroy without caring about who they hurt. Clint Eastwood has created an eloquent, but searing critique on our media dominated society. He isn't Oliver Stone that comes with outrageous conspiracies and makes everyone a villain. The film says that we are forgetting that in this country your are innocent until PROVEN guilty not the other way around.
The film is about Richard Jewell, the security guard that at first was hailed as a hero for finding the bomb and prevented a worse tragedy in 1996 at the Atlanta Olympics. The film focuses on the events after the bombing. Richard Jewell is presented as a humble but rather over zealous security guard that considered himself a law enforcement officer. Richard Jewell is played by Paul Walter Hauser in an oscar worthy performance. He plays Jewell with a wide eyed boy scout devotion to law enforcement but with a quiet dignity. Sam Rockwelk plays Watson, his friend and lawyer who helps him in the media a FBI onslaught that wanted to portray him as a lone bomber. His mother is played beautifully by Kathy Bates. The film focuses on the media and it's disregard to really investigate things instead of rushing to judgement because they liked the narrative. Sound familiar? Eastwood indicts them as rushing to judgement. The FBI agents are presented as doing there job but under pressure to find someone to blame for the bombing. It is all done in a great and heartfelt style which is typical.for Clint Eastwood. This man was innocent, but because he met a certain profile they went after him. The funny thing is that Jewell himself understands why they would be questioning him. But they had no hard evidence and the timeline of the bombing exonerated Jewell and the FBI ultimately declared him not a suspect. But for months they made Richard Jewell's life a living hell. The FBI was doing their job. The media rushed to judgement. This film comes out at a time where this happens regularly. It is as timely as ever.
The film is about Richard Jewell, the security guard that at first was hailed as a hero for finding the bomb and prevented a worse tragedy in 1996 at the Atlanta Olympics. The film focuses on the events after the bombing. Richard Jewell is presented as a humble but rather over zealous security guard that considered himself a law enforcement officer. Richard Jewell is played by Paul Walter Hauser in an oscar worthy performance. He plays Jewell with a wide eyed boy scout devotion to law enforcement but with a quiet dignity. Sam Rockwelk plays Watson, his friend and lawyer who helps him in the media a FBI onslaught that wanted to portray him as a lone bomber. His mother is played beautifully by Kathy Bates. The film focuses on the media and it's disregard to really investigate things instead of rushing to judgement because they liked the narrative. Sound familiar? Eastwood indicts them as rushing to judgement. The FBI agents are presented as doing there job but under pressure to find someone to blame for the bombing. It is all done in a great and heartfelt style which is typical.for Clint Eastwood. This man was innocent, but because he met a certain profile they went after him. The funny thing is that Jewell himself understands why they would be questioning him. But they had no hard evidence and the timeline of the bombing exonerated Jewell and the FBI ultimately declared him not a suspect. But for months they made Richard Jewell's life a living hell. The FBI was doing their job. The media rushed to judgement. This film comes out at a time where this happens regularly. It is as timely as ever.