Clint Eastwood is 112 years old and still making hard hitting films better then most could in their prime (Editor’s Note: Eastwood is really a spry 89). This time around he’s pulled in major talent in the form of Sam Rockwell (this writer’s favorite working actor), John Hamm, and Olivia Wilde to tackle the story of Richard Jewell. For those under 30 or who, like most of us, have pretty much forgotten this story in the slew of stories like it since 9/11, Richard Jewell was a campus security guard who found a bomb in the Olympic Village during the summer games of 1996. His warning saved countless lives and he was hailed as a hero….until the media got a hold of the fact that he was being looked at by the FBI as a suspect. What followed was a premature and ultimately incorrect public media prosecution that ruined a mans life.
While Eastwood probably has his own political motivations for tackling the subject it is still a very important story that needs to be told, today more then ever. The 24 hour news cycle does great things, however it, with the cooperation of a willing public, has a tendency to jump to conclusions which aren’t always correct. In our headline knowledge world the details have become increasingly incidental so hopefully this film will make people take a closer look at things from time to time.
The film itself looks beautiful from the trailer alone and provides a weight to the proceedings that could go missed. Hamm, Wilde, and Rockwell all seem to be bringing their A-game but the big surprise here is relative unknown Paul Walter Hauser, who plays the title character. Again, only judging from a trailer but the performance beats we get speak to a memorable performance at a minimum. The film comes out in time for Oscar consideration and it has the feel of a contender, I emphasize again this is only from seeing the trailer but I wouldn’t be shocked to here Hauser name bounded around when nomination time comes.
