As you look at the song and dance unfold on the news channels, you wonder what the fuss is all about. The power of the media and government combine to profile anyone is immense and this can leave people scarred for life. #Amazonprime featured a film last month that showcases a true set of events. Yes, the film is right wing political but very relevant to our times.
ASHOK’s FIVE reviews #RichardJewell on #Amazonprime, directed by #ClintEastwood. This is the story of a security guard who discovered a bomb at a sports stadium and went from becoming an overnight hero to the prime accused. He comes under the scanner of the FBI and then the media and law enforcement authorities go all out to nail him down.
#RichardJewell is based on the book “The Suspect” by #KentAlexander and #KevinSalwen.
What’s interesting is that the book is not about the bomber at all; it is about how the life of the security guard comes apart. The script is based on actual events that unfolded on the side-lines of the summer Olympics in 1996 at Atalanta, Georgia.
Masterful direction by producer and director #ClintEastwood ensures that the treatment remains a blunt narrative and creates suspense that builds momentum. You are constantly in doubt whether Richard Jewell (#PaulWalterHauser in a brilliant portrayal of the security guard) is at fault.
There is something ‘strange’ about Jewell as he bumbles his way around the FBI team. He is depicted as the man ‘who wants to help everyone’ in the initial days when he works as a sincere office help refilling snickers bars into the desk of attorney Watson Bryant (#SamRockwell). He lives with his mother Boby (#KathyBates) and during the investigation declares “I’m Law Enforcement too”. There is an element of comic and pathos in the character and this is what Eastwood dials up brilliantly.
#JonHamm plays Tom Shaw, the FBI agent who is doggedly chasing Jewell. Then there is Kathy Scruggs (#OliviaWilde) the crime journo who is willing to do anything to get access to the inside news. The manner in which the screenplay and the editing combine to slow-cook this plot as it brims with suspense and keeps you on the edge is brilliant.
#PaulWalterHauser is of course brilliant as the over-weight, bumbling security guard who has pretensions of being someone who he isn’t.
I think the best part of the film is how it exposes our tendency to stereotype someone and then look for factoids that substantiate that premise. Watch #RichardJewell and look at how your own prejudices play out!
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