Richard Jewell

[Palatine]

I enjoyed it. Very good performances especially Olivia Wilde. Very clean story telling, not preachy at all. Very scary portrait of the FBI. You felt good for Jewell, then bad, then you thought he was an idiot, then you identified with him, sometimes all at once. The movie won't make you cheer or cry so it's not going to be huge box office. But it's restraint is one of the main reasons it's such a good movie.

Just had an unrelated thought. Eastwoood is almost the opposite of Tarantino. Tarantio is always making you aware that you are watching a movie. He uses craft to make comments about film in his films. Eastwood uses craft to stay out of the way. To keep you focused on the material at hand. To be invisible. Jewell is a perfect example of this.

 

[Steelerone]

Spoke with some friends who said it was one of Eastwood's best works. Unfortunately unless it's Disney, computer generated cities being destroyed and then saved by super hero's it seems that the audience just doesn't seem to be there. People no longer have patience with plots within plots or human interactions.

 

[8893]

I enjoyed it. Very good performances especially Olivia Wilde. Very clean story telling, not preachy at all. Very scary portrait of the FBI. You felt good for Jewell, then bad, then you thought he was an idiot, then you identified with him, sometimes all at once. The movie won't make you cheer or cry so it's not going to be huge box office. But it's restraint is one of the main reasons it's such a good movie.

Just had an unrelated thought. Eastwoood is almost the opposite of Tarantino. Tarantio is always making you aware that you are watching a movie. He uses craft to make comments about film in his films. Eastwood uses craft to stay out of the way. To keep you focused on the material at hand. To be invisible. Jewell is a perfect example of this.

Finally saw this last night. Agree with your take 100%. Very well done and restrained. Great performances all around, including Wilde. Hauser was excellent at eliciting all the emotions you reference. Sam Rockwell and Kathy Bates continue to impress with their range. Jon Hamm is so good at playing a jerk; on a related note the "Curb Your Enthusiasm" from two weeks ago where he is playing a Larry David-type character was brilliant.

Really good movie, and really good movie making from Clint.