Richard Jewell

Based on true events, Richard Jewell follows Paul Walter Hauser’s title character, a struggling security guard, as he sets out to clear his name after he’s falsely accused of planting a bomb at the 1996 Olympics. Filmmaker Clint Eastwood has infused Richard Jewell with precisely the sort of deliberate, patient sensibility with which he’s come to be known, and it’s clear, certainly, that the picture benefits from an ongoing emphasis on character development over plot twists – as the various protagonists, especially Jewell himself, become far more interesting and sympathetic than one might’ve initially anticipated. (Sam Rockwell’s consistently captivating turn as Jewell’s laid-back attorney remains a continuing highlight, to be sure.) There’s little doubt, too, that Eastwood’s top-notch handling of several key sequences (eg the aforementioned bombing) ensures that Richard Jewell contains its fair share of spellbinding moments, and although the film’s second half does feel a little shaggier and flabbier than entirely necessary, it’s hard to deny that the whole thing, buoyed by a couple of superb scenes within the third act (eg Richard’s emotional speech), concludes on an impressively riveting note – which ultimately cements the movie’s place as yet another solid effort from a remarkably consistent filmmaker.

*** out of ****