Le Cas Richard Jewell

"Richard Jewell" (2019 release; 125 min.) brings the story of the suspected 1996 Atlanta bomber. As the movie opens, it is "1986 Atlanta" and Jewell is working as a supply room manager in a small law firm. He gets to know one of the lawyers,, Watson Bryant. We then go to "1996 Piedmont College" where Jewell is working as a security officer but he really sees himself as a law enforcer. Eventually, just months before the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, he is fired by Piedmont's President... At this point we are 10 min. into the movie but to tell you more of the plot would spoil your viewing experience, you'll just have to see for yourself how it all plays out.

Couple of comments: this is the latest movie from director/producer Client Eastwood. Here he brings the story of Richard Jewell, whom you may recall was a security officer at Atlanta's Centennial Park the night a bomb attack killed 2 and wounded many more. For reasons the movie reveals in great details (but I don't want to spoil for you), Jewell becomes a "person of interest" and the frantic media jump on the story. It is frankly incredibly frightening when you put it all into context and see how a man's life gets mauled. Per the usual, Eastwood does a great job to keep the movie going forward. The all- star ensemble cast is incredible: Paul Walter Hauser IS Richard Jewell, and Sam Rockwell, Kathy Bates, Jon Hamm and Olivia Wilde are equally outstanding. This movie was filmed in the Spring of this year, and now barely 6 months later, it is already in theaters.

"Richard Jewell" premiered wide this weekend, and I couldn't wait to see it. The Saturday early evening screening where I saw this at here in Cincinnati was attended dismally (4 people exactly), much to my surprise. If you have any interest to see how the 1996 Atlanta bombing played out, I'd readily suggest you check this out, be it in the theater, on VOD, or eventually on DVD/Blu-ray, and draw your own conclusion.

I'm not a real fan of slow paced long movies... unless they are made by Mr. Eastwood. He captures every tense moment, facial expression, or still scene, and manages to fill in more about the story he is telling. Casting was perfection! Paul Walter Hauser needs awards for his performance. Kathy Bates and Olivia Wilde were on point, as was Sam Rockwell and Canadian wannabe Jon Hamm - who is awesome in his TV commercials lol! Directing was perfect, cinematography great, score in line, and the writing was good. Very enjoyable film and I recommend it. It's a well deserved 9/10 from me

Eastwood has done it again, adding yet another wonderful film to what is a beyond legendary filmography. Based on the real-life story of a heroic security guard turned villain during the '66 Centennial Olympic Park bombing, we see the horrifying extent to which the media can vilify an individual, especially one as kind-hearted as Richard Jewell. So many incredible performances but Paul Walter Hauser... man oh man... his portrayal of the titular man is as deeply affecting and human as anything I've seen this year. Incredible stuff!

I have experience dealing with the Feds and found this movie incredibly compelling. So much about this movie hit home for me. Just a few examples, when the Feds came to talk to Jewell and tried to make him sign shady documents, bugging his home, the slick self-righteous agent who thinks he decides who is right and wrong, cleaning out his home supposedly looking for evidence, wasting time on easy, harmless suspects instead of finding the real criminals to boost their career. It's sad. All that time spent looking at Richard Jewell as a suspect while the real terrorist got away. They knew he was innocent, all they had to do was actually do some actual investigative, science-based investigative work instead of using confirmation bias.

Can you imagine what would have happened if Jewell didn't have access to a great lawyer or had the law enforcement background to spot the tricks the Feds were using? He would probably have been in prison until his death, which is nuts. At no point did anyone use common sense and point out that there was absolutely no evidence this guy was involved. They were looking for an easy mark.

It just shows that reform is needed drastically. I've always thought that many in American law enforcement are not educated, which leads to this sort of thing happening too often. Then you have the for-profit prison system which encourages all the corruption in the justice system to begin with.

If I had kids, I'd definitely show them this movie and point out all the things Jewell did wrong and what to do in a situation like this. It should be mandatory to show in Civics classes, TBH.

Any "normal person" who has ever been involved as the subject of a targeted media story can tell you reporters can be monsters. Never an apology, rarely a correction, they just move on the the next story leaving a wake of destruction.