Richard Jewell was an innocent man. Some would even consider him a hero. In 1996, Jewell, working as a security guard at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, Georgia, during the 1996 Summer Olympics, discovered a duffel bag loaded with explosives. Jewell was able to clear most of the area before the bomb went off, killing one person and injuring 111 others, and the cost of life could’ve been much higher were it not for his actions. But in the days following the deed, Jewell emerged as the prime suspect, with both the FBI and the media zeroing in on him. Now director Clint Eastwood sets out to tell the story with Richard Jewell.

Richard Jewell Trailer

Clint Eastwood works fast. Richard Jewell started shooting in June of this year, and now the filmmaker already has a release date set for December, and a trailer to go with it. And what a trailer it is. This is a very well-cut trailer, loaded with tension. It also looks to be tailor-made for the Fox News crowd, zeroing in on the eeeevil media and the crooked jerks over at the FBI.

To be fair, the real Richard Jewell was badly mistreated by law enforcement and the press, who rushed to crucify him even though he was completely innocent (a man named Eric Rudolph was later convicted of the bombing, along with several other attacks). Still, the minute the camera zeroes in on Olivia Wilde‘s over-the-top trashy journalist and has her practically cackle, “I report the facts!”, I rolled my eyes.

But perhaps I’m being harsh, and perhaps Richard Jewell will turn out to be a great new addition to the Eastwood canon. Paul Walter Hauser stars as Richard Jewell, leading a cast that includes Sam Rockwell, Kathy Bates, Olivia Wilde, and Jon Hamm. Eastwood directs from a script by the fantastic screenwriter Billy Ray, based on the compelling Vanity Fair article American Nightmare: The Ballad of Richard Jewell, written by Marie Brenner (you can read it here).

Richard Jewell opens December 13, 2019.

“There is a bomb in Centennial Park. You have thirty minutes.” The world is first introduced to Richard Jewell as the security guard who reports finding the device at the 1996 Atlanta bombing—his report making him a hero whose swift actions save countless lives. But within days, the law enforcement wannabe becomes the FBI’s number one suspect, vilified by press and public alike, his life ripped apart. Reaching out to independent, anti-establishment attorney Watson Bryant, Jewell staunchly professes his innocence. But Bryant finds he is out of his depth as he fights the combined powers of the FBI, GBI and APD to clear his client’s name, while keeping Richard from trusting the very people trying to destroy him.

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