Sneaking in before the end of the year, nearly buried in the glut of award-contenders based on or inspired by true events, comes an intimate profile that’s also a cautionary fable that’s still relevant to today. Perhaps with the advent of social media, it hits home now more than in the late 1990s. Yes, unlike those films based on very recent headlines, like BOMBSHELL, DARK WATERS, THE TWO POPES, and THE REPORT, this one rolls back the clock more than two decades (as opposed to the century plus of 1917). But it also evokes the themes of classic fiction thrillers with a man (or in this case a trio) facing impossible odds in order to clear his name and prove his innocence ala THE FUGITIVE of TV and film. But, this is very real, dominating the news media for many days. And the very unlikely hero at the center of it all was the man named RICHARD JEWELL.
When we meet Richard (Paul Walter Hauser), he’s a derided supply manager of a legal office. His only “work friend” is lawyer Watson Bryant (Sam Rockwell). During a game of Galaga at the nearby arcade, Richard tells him that he’s leaving to pursue his dream job in law enforcement. The route leads him to a short time as a security officer at a local college. An altercation at the dorm leads to his dismissal, but Richard has a goal to work at the upcoming Summer Olympic Games in Atlanta. He’s happy to leave the apartment he shares with his mama Bobi (Kathy Bates) and trek downtown to work as a private security staffer at Centennial Park for the free outdoor concerts. Less happy to be there is FBI agent Tom Shaw (Jon Hamm) and ambitious newspaper reporter Kathy Scruggs (Olivia Wilde), as each considers this a dull assignment. During the show, Richard accosts a group of teens tossing empty beer bottles at the side of an audio/video control tower. But as they leave, something under a nearby bench catches his eye, an abandoned backpack. After much persuading and pleading, Richard’s bosses finally bring in the bomb squad. Meanwhile, threatening calls warning of a device come in to the FBI and police switchboards. Richard’s suspicions prove true, chaos ensues, and two lives are lost. In the next couple of days, he’s hailed as a hero whose prompt actions may have saved many. But the pressure is on to find the real culprit, quickly. Thinking she can get a scoop, Kathy uses her…uh…journalistic skills to squeeze a scoop out of Agent Shaw: they are looking at Jewell as the bomber. Wanting to be first with the story, her bosses splash Richard’s face over the front page of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. As the media begins to hound him while the feds question him in, he calls the only lawyer he knows, Watson, who now has his own small firm. But can these two “little guys” get the truth out there as Richard’s reputation goes from media darling to evil murdering mastermind?
A great deal of the film’s strength comes from the superb casting, particularly in the title role. Rather than going for a big or medium name actor (Jonah Hill is an executive producer, in part because of his early interest in starring), they’ve wisely recruited Hauser, who made an impact a couple of years ago as the self-proclaimed “intelligence consultant” in I, TONYA. Here, minus that character’s clueless bravado, Hauser immerses himself in the complexities of Jewell’s personality. We sympathize with him over his obsessive desire to “serve the public”, but he frustrates us with his allegiance to those who would take advantage, making us squirm until Bryant snaps him out of her subservient stupor. This makes the powerfull last act, when he finally, as Bryant says pleads, he “gets mad”. For many, his strutting, socially awkward persona makes him the butt of derision ala Paul Blart or closer to Seth Rogen in OBSERVE AND REPORT, but Hauser imbues him with quiet dignity, going from easy caricature to rounded (yes, he is “husky”) human being. This is a remarkable performance.
Happily, Hauser has some great “back up” from several screen vets. Rockwell brings some great motor-mouthed energy in the role of Jewell’s pal and defender, who knows that he’s playing David to the law and media Goliath twins. At times he seems to be acting as Jewell’s “big brother” who, like Captain America, doesn’t like bullies. But he’s gotta’ be tough with his client, playing the “bad cop” to Bates as mother Bobi as “good cop”. Actually “adoring, loyal cop” may be more like it. Similar to Hauser, she brings dignity to this simple, soft-spoken lady who wants to protect her only son, perhaps close to a “mama grizzly”. Hamm truly makes a compelling villain as the swaggering, arrogant Shaw. He’s the “idol cop” that Jewell seems to dream of being, but he’s closer to a mean-spirited jock who’s trying to pin something on a kid he stuff into lockers. He’s Don Draper with a badge and less booze. But like that iconic TV role, he likes the ladies a bit too much, which brings in the fabulous Wilde as the temptress who may cause his (and Richard’s) downfall. Her Kathy sees the future of print media (newspapers appeared to have no serious rival in 96′) and doesn’t care about climbing over her co-workers (especially the other women who see right through her). Ms. Wilde proved herself a gifted director this year with BOOKSMART, but let’s hope she continues in front of the camera with spirited work like this.
Speaking of actor/directors, this film is yet another triumph from one of the most prolific ones, Clint Eastwood. Really, it’s his most compelling since AMERICAN SNIPER. He has tackled tales of the wrongly accused before, in the underrated CHANGELING, TRUE CRIME, and even SULLY, but here his subject allows him to comment on being tried by the media. Reporters and camera crew swarm around the entrance to the apartment complex of the Jewells, acting like piranhas circling prey, crushing anyone trying to plow through while pelting them with a Gatling gun of questions, “Where were you?” “Didya’ do it?” “Make a statement!”. These paparazzi are closer to vultures picking at the flesh of a wounded animal. Eastwood is also skilled in turning the drabbest surroundings into a grim cage, particularly the Jewell living room when he’s told to repeat a threat into the phone. The same can be said of the film’s most suspenseful sequence, when Eastwood turns the festive park concert into a nail-biting, edge of your seat thrill ride, reminding us of Hitchcock’s theories of building tension for an audience (we know it’s gonna’ happen, but not when). It helps that he’s working from a terrific script by Billy Ray based on Marie Brenner’s magazine article. There’s great location work at the actual spots (I could almost feel the humidity) and Eastwood’s expert guidance of his gifted cast. All of them combine to make RICHARD JEWELL one of the year’s most engaging and provocative films.
3.5 Out of 4
