A couple of days ago me and my friend managed to find time together to watch Clint Eastwood's latest film 'Richard Jewell'. The movie tells the story of a security guard falsely being accused of being behind terrorist attack during the summer Olympics in 1996 in Atlanta.
Indeed, the movie tells how Jewell - after saving dozens of lives thanks to his alertness - became the target of the investigation. The FBI and the media went after him thinking that he must have been the person who planted the bomb that went off in the Olympic village.
Having now seen the film, I have to say that 'Richard Jewell', overall, more than met my expectations. The movie really managed to capture my attention and entertained me, even though there were some tiny flaws with the story that need to be mentioned too.
So first of all, when it comes to those good aspects in the movie, one of the best things about it has to do with its acting and the performances. There's no denying that Clint Eastwood has managed yet again to get some real acting talent to this film.
Indeed, when you have a cast that includes Oscar winners like Sam Rockwell (as Jewell's furious lawyer) and Kathy Bates (as Richard's suffering mother), you can't go wrong with them. They really manage to bring some gravitas and relatability to their roles.
At the same time, even though these two 'sell' us the movie, the best acting actually comes from Paul Walter Hauser as the main character Richard Jewell. He really surprises as the soon-to-be-framed hero and manages to transform himself into his role amazingly well.
Indeed, Hauser is a total revelation in the film and really shines here. It's great that he gets to do some straight drama, because before had been known for being the 'comic relief guy' (the ridiculous henchman in 'I, Tonya' and the silly guy in the 'Cobra Kai' series).
Story-wise, the really good thing about the movie is that it does a great job at showing how recklessly the FBI and the media acted during the whole ordeal. There's no question that they botched their jobs and did not care about the truth at all.
At the same time, even though these two 'sell' us the movie, the best acting actually comes from Paul Walter Hauser as the main character Richard Jewell. He really surprises as the soon-to-be-framed hero and manages to transform himself into his role amazingly well.
Indeed, Hauser is a total revelation in the film and really shines here. It's great that he gets to do some straight drama, because before had been known for being the 'comic relief guy' (the ridiculous henchman in 'I, Tonya' and the silly guy in the 'Cobra Kai' series).
Story-wise, the really good thing about the movie is that it does a great job at showing how recklessly the FBI and the media acted during the whole ordeal. There's no question that they botched their jobs and did not care about the truth at all.
After all, as the movie keeps moving forward, the more obvious it becomes that the FBI was out to get him. Almost everything was done to railroad the guy and trick him into giving a confession, which is just brutal to watch.
At the same time, even though the story in the film in most cases works really well, that's not to say that screenplay was perfect. It's clear that there were moments where the story had some boo-boos and the script could have required some extra polishing.
After all, had the first act been a bit smoother (Jewell getting his job was choppy) and had the villains been more fleshed out (Jon Hamm & Olivia Wilde were flat), the script would have been tighter. In that case the pacing in film would have clearly been better.
Still, when you look at the movie as a whole, even though there were some tiny flaws, overall these minor issues weren't really that serious. I'm definitely not saying that the negative aspects in the film outweighed the positive aspects.
After all, as you kept watching the film, you couldn't help but to be immersed by its 'slow burn'. It's just shocking how easily things can go wrong when the media gets sensationalistic and doesn't care about what actually happened.
In that sense, if you haven't managed to see 'Richard Jewell' yet, I think it's safe to say that you should give it a try at some point. You should give it a try (96% positive by users on Rottentomatoes.com) and not be discouraged by some of its detractors.
After all, even though some have been complaining that the film is supposedly inaccurate, that's not really the case here. You shouldn't believe those who are trying to whitewash the case (in my country too!) and deny that the whole thing ever happened.
On the contrary, when it all is said and done, the film does show what happened. It shows that the FBI & the media did try to frame and destroy Jewell and that in the end, most of them had no problems, sense of shame or regrets about what they had done to him at all.
After all, had the first act been a bit smoother (Jewell getting his job was choppy) and had the villains been more fleshed out (Jon Hamm & Olivia Wilde were flat), the script would have been tighter. In that case the pacing in film would have clearly been better.
Still, when you look at the movie as a whole, even though there were some tiny flaws, overall these minor issues weren't really that serious. I'm definitely not saying that the negative aspects in the film outweighed the positive aspects.
After all, as you kept watching the film, you couldn't help but to be immersed by its 'slow burn'. It's just shocking how easily things can go wrong when the media gets sensationalistic and doesn't care about what actually happened.
In that sense, if you haven't managed to see 'Richard Jewell' yet, I think it's safe to say that you should give it a try at some point. You should give it a try (96% positive by users on Rottentomatoes.com) and not be discouraged by some of its detractors.
After all, even though some have been complaining that the film is supposedly inaccurate, that's not really the case here. You shouldn't believe those who are trying to whitewash the case (in my country too!) and deny that the whole thing ever happened.
On the contrary, when it all is said and done, the film does show what happened. It shows that the FBI & the media did try to frame and destroy Jewell and that in the end, most of them had no problems, sense of shame or regrets about what they had done to him at all.
No comments:
Post a Comment