Clint Eastwood has been on a weird, [seemingly Republican-tinged](https://www.vulture.com/2014/12/movie-review-american-sniper.html) moviemaking kick for the past few years, fixating on stories about patriotic Americans who take out terrorists (_American Sniper, The 15:17 to Paris)_, get wrapped up in shady Mexican drug-running schemes (_The Mule_), and otherwise Beat the Odds to Do Something Good _(Sully)_. Most of his recent movies have been mediocre at best, and [unwatchable at worst](https://newrepublic.com/article/147076/1517-paris-strange-strange-journey)&#x2014;which is why it's so surprising that his latest outing, about the bombing at the Atlanta Olympics, actually looks... kind of great?

The World Will Know His Name and the Truth. Only in Theaters December 13!
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Directed by Clint Eastwood and based on true events, “Richard Jewell” is a story of what happens when what is reported as fact obscures the truth.

“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.

The film stars Oscar winners Sam Rockwell (“Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri”) as Watson Bryant and Kathy Bates (“Misery,” TV’s “American Horror Story”) as Richard’s mom, Bobi; Jon Hamm (“Baby Driver”) as the lead FBI investigator; Olivia Wilde (“Life Itself”) as Atlanta Journal-Constitution reporter Kathy Scruggs; and Paul Walter Hauser (“I, Tonya”) stars as Richard Jewell.

Oscar winner Eastwood directed from a screenplay by Oscar nominee Billy Ray (“Captain Phillips”), based on the Vanity Fair article “American Nightmare—The Ballad of Richard Jewell” by Marie Brenner.  Eastwood also produced under his Malpaso banner, alongside Tim Moore, Jessica Meier, Kevin Misher, Leonardo DiCaprio, Jennifer Davisson and Jonah Hill.

Eastwood’s creative team includes director of photography Yves Bélanger and production designer Kevin Ishioka, along with longtime costume designer Deborah Hopper and Oscar-winning editor Joel Cox (“Unforgiven”), who have worked with Eastwood throughout the years on numerous projects.  The music is by Arturo Sandoval, who scored 2018’s “The Mule.”

Warner Bros. Pictures Presents a Malpaso Production, an Appian Way/Misher Films/75 Year Plan Production, “Richard Jewell.”  The film will be in theaters on December 13, 2019 and will be distributed worldwide by Warner Bros. Pictures.

RICHARD JEWELL - Official Trailer [HD]

On Thursday, Warner Bros. dropped the first trailer for _Richard Jewell,_ a film about the security guard who found a bomb at Atlanta's Centennial Olympic Park in July of 1996 and, in turn, saved countless lives. Jewell was initially lauded as a hero&#x2014;but after he was named a person of interest in the case, the news media turned on him, aggressively pursuing the narrative that Jewell had planted the bomb himself. His life descended into absolute hell, as he went through intense police questioning and faced a media frenzy everywhere he went&#x2014;only to wind up exonerated in October of 1996, after four months of complete misery.

Eastwood's telling of Jewell's story looks pretty gripping, and the film's cast is stacked. Jewell is played by Paul Walter Hauser, who was quietly great as Tonya Harding's dimwitted criminal bodyguard Shawn Eckardt in _I, Tonya_. Sam Rockwell plays Jewell's lawyer, Jon Hamm plays the FBI agent trying to get him to confess to a crime he didn't commit, and Olivia Wilde portrays a local journalist who ruthlessly paints him as a terrorist in the press.

Sure, it's too early to say that _Richard Jewell_ won't wind up being another stinker like _The 15:17 to Paris,_ but judging from the trailer, this thing could turn out to be Eastwood's first truly great movie in a while. Watch it above, and check out _Richard Jewell_ when it hits theaters on December 13.

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'Richard Jewell,' Clint Eastwood's Movie About the Atlanta Olympics Bombing, Looks Surprisingly Good

Film

Entertainment

'Richard Jewell' tells the story of a security guard wrongly accused of planting a bomb at the 1996 Olympics who, in reality, saved countless lives. 

'Richard Jewell,' Clint Eastwood's Movie About the Atlanta Olympics Bombing, Looks Surprisingly Good

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