Eastwood Shines With Richard Jewell
Richard Jewell (2019)
Directed by Clint Eastwood
Starring Paul Walter Hauser, Sam Rockwell, Olivia Wilde and Kathy Bates
Paul Walter Hauser was a huge stand out in the great I, Tonya (2017), playing Shawn Ecardt, an overweight, delusional momma’s boy. Now, with the help of director Clint Eastwood, he had a chance to play the same character, albeit in different circumstances in Clint Eastwood’s 2019 film Richard Jewell about the security guard and police officer famous for his role in the events surrounding the Centennial Olympic Park bombing at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta.
Anyone can Google what happens to Richard Jewel before seeing the film, but this film isn’t about the result. It’s about the journey.
Jewel may go down in film history as one of the most infuriating protagonists ever. Always stepping on any momentum gained, the title character plays the foil to himself, as well as his ever-doting-mother played perfectly by Kathy Bates.
The stand out is Sam Rockwell playing Lawyer Watson Bryant ,who conveys a sympathetic yet stern approach to the train wreck of a personality that is Richard Jewell. Olivia Wilde has a small roll but shines with the right amount of maniacal glee as journalist Kathy Scruggs.
Eastwood continues to crank out films. Making Jewell’s story interesting was no easy task, but he did us proud, resulting in one of the director’s recent bests.
If I, Tonya was an A and The 15:17 to Paris was a C, then Richard Jewel is a B.