No. 9. (2020) RICHARD JEWELL February 16th.

Film No 9 (2020)  February 16th.  2:00 PM  PALACE James St  Fortitude Valley  Brisbane . 

"You always look at the guy who found the bomb, just like you look at the guy who found the body". (FBI logic when it comes to the focus of their investigation into the Centennial Park bombing in 1996).

Is it possible to imagine our world of cinema without Clint Eastwood? We take his innate ability to tell compelling stories (Gran Torino, Sully, Million Dollar Baby) for granted, but knowing he's approaching his 90th birthday (May 31st) reminds us of an inevitability we'd rather not think about.

Richard Jewell suffered an injustice that made Eastwood angry, so much so, he believes the world should be reminded, and so we might get angry as well. I must say that the name rang a bell but it wasn't until I saw the trailer that I remembered the story of the unjustly treated loner and security guard, who saved the lives of hundreds after he discovered a back-pack containing three pipe bombs in Centennial Park, Atlanta in 1996 during the Olympic Games.

Jewell, exquisitely played by Paul Walter Hauser (I,Tonya) is of such a personality that the FBI decided that he and he only could have planted the bomb. Their reasoning, mainly shown in the form of John Hamm's, Tom Shaw, is that Jewell had a desire to become a policeman. This had to be his most obvious method of gaining acceptance (hero) then finally recruitment. But how does such sloppy investigating by the country's leading bureau happen? Eastwood doesn't try to answer that question but he certainly makes the bureau look silly.  

The story, instigated from the Vanity Fair article AMERICAN NIGHTMARE The Ballad of Richard Jewell, is glued together via Jewell's relationship with his mother Bobi (Kathy Bates) and friend, humanist lawyer, Watson Bryant (Sam Rockwell). I'm going to use the term again, compelling; the story Eastwood tells here reflects a disgraceful chapter in America's justice system. It's highly compelling, there I go again, and we should be angry. Thanks again Clint! 10GUMS.