Free Republic

Not every mainstream movie critic hates Clint Eastwood's highly affecting Richard Jewell.  But the critics who hate it hate it an awful lot.  The story of how an out-of-control FBI and a "completely irresponsible press" ruined the life of the heroic security guard whose quick action saved many lives during the 1996 Centennial Park bombing is legitimately viewed as Eastwood's take on what's happening in America right now.  The irony that the movie was released the same week as the I.G. report exposing the FBI's lawlessness in Crossfire Hurricane must be particularly galling for mainstream journos who staked their reputations on...

Years ago a professor of film studies told me that "Breaking Away" was one of the best "coming of age" films he'd ever seen because it didn't involve sex, but rather a boy being disillusioned with his cycling childhood heroes. "Richard Jewell" is in many respects a coming of age movie. Most people know the story: Atlanta Olympic Games security guard Richard Jewell (Paul Walter Hauser), who had been fired from a police department and from a college for excessive enthusiasm, finds a bomb in a backpack left at the Atlanta Centennial venue. He calls the police, assists in moving...

The controversy surrounding Richard Jewell is heating up. Warner Bros. has released a statement responding to the Atlanta Journal Constitution’s demand for a disclaimer saying the late journalist Kathy Scruggs (portrayed in the film by Olivia Wilde) did not sleep with an FBI source for information in real life. “The film is based on a wide range of highly credible source material,” the studio’s statement, obtained by EW, says. “There is no disputing that Richard Jewell was an innocent man whose reputation and life were shredded by a miscarriage of justice. It is unfortunate and the ultimate irony that the...