Richard Jewell (2019)

Clint Eastwood is back, and this time you won't be making his latest film into a punchline. Richard Jewell is a great true story of American injustice, and as a feature, it kicks some ass. A tragic story of a flawed, yet well-intentioned rent-a-cop who became a suspect of a bombing that he tried to stop from happening. It's engrossing, riveting and tense. More than what Eastwood has given us, at lease since Sully. Paul Walter Hauser practically is Richard Jewell. You couldn't have landed better casting if you tried. Kathy Bates and Sam Rockwell both bring it as well. My main problem with Jewell, however, is it's glaring embellishments. The characters of Kathy Scruggs (Olivia Wilde) and FBI Agent Todd Shaw are portrayed almost like a cartoon villains. If they could have cackled "mua ha ha", they would. It's too manipulative of the audience, and lazy. Four out of Five Stars.