‘A little power can turn a person into a monster, Richard….’
The story of Richard Jewell and the Centennial Olympic Park bombing is a lot of things. It’s a cautionary tale. It’s a damning indictment of law enforcement. It’s a comment on power and those who abuse it. But more than all of that, it’s a human story. A story about a strange, lonely man, and the way he was woefully let down by the society that he so wished to enrich (albeit misguidedly). If there is any director in the world that can take a simple story, a human story, and present it in a way that is compelling, captivating and straightforward, it’s Clint Eastwood. Jewell and Eastwood. A match made in heaven…
When Richard Jewell, a lowly security guard (Paul Walter Hauser), prevents the death of hundreds during a bomb attack on the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, he briefly becomes a hero. An ambitious reporter (Olivia Wilde) and an incompetent FBI agent (Jon Hamm) turn the tide of public opinion against Jewell, who contacts an old lawyer friend (Sam Rockwell) to clear his name.
It should be said that Manhunt: Deadly Games, the definitive chronicle of Jewell and the real Atalanta bomber, came out just months after this film, so anyone with a genuine interest in the case should probably head there. That being said, taken as its own work, Richard Jewell makes the brave decision to focus solely on the titular character, with the actual bomber receiving only a few seconds of screen time. Instead, we have a brief history of Jewell’s various unsuccessful forays into law enforcement, his close relationship with his mother (played here with typical lowkey charm by Kathy Bates) and the trial by media that ensued following Jewell’s unlawful arrest.
As ever, Eastwood has assembled an excellent cast with Rockwell and Hamm really selling their mutual disdain and Hauser excellent as Jewell. The evergreen director shows no sign of slowing down. Indeed, the 91-year-old Hollywood legend has a new film set to premiere in this, the year of Our Lord 2021. A man’s age shouldn’t really define his audiences’ relationship with his work, but Richard Jewell coupled with The Mule and American Sniper ensures that Eastwood’s curtain call is turning into quite the victory lap.
For a director as prolific as Eastwood, it is impressive that he has far more hits than misses on his resume. Richard Jewell is undoubtedly in the former category. Another success from one of cinema’s great auteurs.