
New Zealand Listener
[Eastwood] has crafted a gripping thriller that places the blame for one man’s ruin squarely at the feet of those more powerful.
Full reviewClint Eastwood directs this true story drama about a security guard (Paul Walter Hauser, BlacKkKlansman) who saved people from a bomb at the 1996 Olympics, but was then labelled by the media as a terrorist. Co-stars John Hamm, Olivia Wilde and Sam Rockwell.
[Eastwood] has crafted a gripping thriller that places the blame for one man’s ruin squarely at the feet of those more powerful.
Full reviewFrom one angle the movie is pure right-wing populism, standing up for white, working-class, salt-of-the-earth guys who simply want to serve and protect. But another moral could be drawn: quite literally, Richard is a victim of racial profiling, no less than a Middle Eastern immigrant to the US might be.
Full reviewFor a film about the efforts to clear one man's name, the treatment of Scruggs in Richard Jewell seems like hypocrisy – with a side-order of misogyny – of the worst sort. It's a massive blight on an otherwise very competently told and engrossing story.
Full reviewEastwood delivers a riveting take on this true tale of a security guard who was declared a hero for finding a bomb and then became the prime suspect . Paul Walter Hauser is perfection as Richard, as is the great Kathy Bates as his loyal mother.
Full reviewResurrecting his sturdy cinematic prose after recent fiascos like The 15:17 to Paris, Eastwood competently dramatizes the underdog's true tale with a patient, straightforward style akin to Sully and Changeling, but he falls short on nuance.
Full reviewThis is a morality tale - in a good way, mostly - about the vulnerability of the individual citizen in the face of state power and about the fate of a private person menaced by the machinery of publicity.
Full reviewThe story is compelling -- from hero to reviled heel in no time flat. In a jauntier time it might have been raw material for social satire; in our day it's a cautionary tale about abuse of power by the press and government alike.
Full reviewJewell, to its credit, is anchored by one of the more complex heroes in Eastwood's canon. But I'm still not certain it finds the most cutting or convincing path through this story.
Full reviewRichard Jewell is pointed and compelling - so much so that it needn't underline its themes as thickly as it does.
Full review...ultra-watchable, engrossing, naturalistic, tautly directed and superbly acted - especially by Hauser and Rockwell - and scripted.
Full reviewIn many ways, it is a very good story, efficiently told - and that's down to the excellent and very plausible performance from Paul Walter Hauser.
Full reviewEastwood's plain style tends to be his greatest asset, because the stories at his films' centers are often wild enough to tell themselves. That's certainly the case here.
Full review"Richard Jewell" benefits from a muted wistfulness, which manages to convey the injustice of what occurred without overselling the theatrics.
Full reviewKeep track of the movies you're waiting for and get the latest movie and tv release news.
Or Sign in with your Email Address
Don’t have a Flicks Account?
Keep track of the movies you're waiting for and get the latest movie and tv release news.
Or Sign up with your Email Address
Already have a Flicks Account?
Don’t have a Flicks Account?
Remembered your password?
To post ratings/reviews we need a username. This is what will appear next to your ratings and reviews.
Share