電影《李察朱威爾事件》影評：[Film Review] Richard Jewell (2019) 6.8/10

Post-AMERICAN SNIPER (2014), Mr. Eastwood’s films, as prolific as ever, have been on the wrong side with liberal-minded critics because of his ingrained rightist slant, but his massive devotees remain unnerved, THE MULE (2018) proves to be an equally massive box office behemoth (reaped 9-digit proceeds in its North American domain), but his latest, RICHARD JEWELL, crashed and burned in the theatrical front (a globally total $30 million receipts against its $45 million production budget).

One can simply twig why the nonagenarian-to-be Mr. Eastwood can relate to the real-life story of our titular hero (1962-2007), on paper, the story is about a blue-collar, overweight mother’s boy, who suffers an unjust persecution by both the law enforcement and the fourth estate - with the fate of Steven Avery, the subject of documentary series MAKING A MURDERER, still up in the air - it is an exemplary apologia for his true-blue ideology, to deflect the ongoing crusade against white privilege by telling the story of a sympathetic victim who is not only a white guybut also, a dyed-in-the-wool adherent of the police badge, often shows undue deference towards the FBI, in the person of agent Tom Shaw (Hamm) and Dan Bennet (Gomez), even being wrongfully subjected as their prime suspect, a contradiction pointed up by his bemused lawyer Watson Bryan (Rockwell), and what is Richard’s answer? He is fully aware the malicious misconduct, and despite himself, a police officer is still his vocation after his ordeals finishes, his star-spangled zeal never diminishes.

Based on the true story in 1996 during the Atlanta Olympics Games, security guard Richard Jewell (Hauser) alights on a package with explosives and timely informs the authority, ergo, many lives are saved and he is hailed as a hero, but soon a turn-up for the books hits him hard, simply because he fits the profile of an glory-seeking perpetrator, Richard becomes the chief suspect, and coaxed by Tom and Dan, he almost incriminates himself unwittingly. Also stoked by the article written by Kathy Scruggs (Wilde) from the Atlanta-Journal Constitution, who is unscrupulous and doesn’t hesitate to put out to get the inside information, the media circus corrals his house and puts heavy strain upon both him and his mother Bobbi (Bates).

One can quibble, scenarist Billy Ray doesn’t come up with enough fodder behind the FBI’s firm belief (especially Shaw’s) that Richard is the bomber, without any direct evidence, one can presume, Shaw, who is on the spot when the attack happens, might have a guilty conscience that the tragedy occurs right under his watch and he fails to pre-empt it, but the film never mines into his psyche, he just hates Richard his guts, why? just because he thinks he is homosexual? It becomes another peeve since Richard is portrayed as if he is more concerned to clear that he is not gay than the capital punishment hanging around his head, the joke might be marginally funny at then, but in this day and age, it is regressive and sneer-inducing.

Thankfully, the cast is superb even to a fault, cleaving to a once-in-a-life-time opportunity to play a leading character in a prestige movie, Hauser aspires for excellence with his earnest, compassionate devotion and precision; Bates, nabbing her fourth Oscar nomination, eloquently turns on our waterworks in her poignant plea that is nothing less than a miracle to pull off, even in the tired loving mother stereotype, Bates can elicit our admiration in a heartbeat; Wilde, on the other hand, holds on her own to portray the real-life reporter Scruggs (who tragically died of drug overdose in 2001) persuasively, although no one will buy her crocodile’s tear in her final scene, plus Clintwood’s methodology is truly prickly and hidebound, even if her atrocious behavior is true, what the film presents of her is inopportune and reeks of sexism, especially when her partner-in-crime Tom Shaw enjoys a double standard here; last but definitely not the least, Rockwell effortlessly steals the show as the cynical lawyer who befriends Richard and fights his corner, emanating moral righteousness, career astuteness and visceral astringency all in one stunning combo, such collective effort, alas, marred by the purported Birkenstock picture that doesn’t sit well with too many overt connotations of its makers’ own political agenda.

referential entries: Eastwood’s AMERICAN SNIPER (2014, 7.0/10); Tom McCarthy’s SPOTLIGHT (2015, 8.3/10).