Richard Jewell

[SWC75]

I saw Clint Eastwood’s “Richard Jewell” today and liked it from beginning to end. I recall thinking at the time of the Olympic Park bombing investigation that everything they were saying about him: that someone said he was ‘weird’, that he’d lost a job as a deputy for racing with his police car, that he liked to hunt in military fatigues, that he was a law enforcement wannabe and that he wasn’t quite where he said he was at a particular time on the security tape all really amounted to nothing and I remember Tom Brokaw, (who appears in the film in a tape from that time), when asked about this said “I’m sure the FBI has a lot more than just that”. It turns out they didn’t and that someone else had planted the bomb and this is the story of what Jewell, (who died of a heart attack at age 44 in 2007), and his mother went through as a result. The story telling is straight-forward, (save for a brief dream sequence), and economical. The performances are fabulous, led by Paul Walter Hauser, a doppleganger for Jewell in both form and manor, Sam Rockwell as his fiery lawyer, Kathy Bates as his bewildered mother, (the FBI took her panties in as possible evidence), Jon Hamm as a FBI agent who assumes Jewell to be guilty based on a 'profile' of the likely bomber and who patches up his theory as it develops holes instead of questioning it, and Olivia Wilde as a reporter who gains glory by breaking the story but dissolves into tears when she realizes what she’s down to the guy and his mother. These days the government and the media seem to be at war with each other. Back then they were both out to get Richard Jewell. I found myself identifying with Jewell immediately, as I think anyone would. I stayed with the movie the whole way and it stayed with me.

Among the previews before the film was a trailer for another film about a falsely accused person based on a true story: Just Mercy based on the memoir of Bryan Stevenson:
Bryan Stevenson - Wikipedia I might see that one, too. The innocent man is a staple of popular entertainment, from Perry Mason to Hitchcock, so I may wind up seeing that one, too.

But here’s an irony, (from Wikipedia’s article on Richard Jewell):

“The film came under fire for its portrayal of late Atlanta-Journal Constitution reporter Kathy Scruggs, who died in 2001. Criticism was specifically directed at the film for depicting her offering to trade sex with an FBI agent in return for confidential information. The current editor-in-chief of the Atlanta-Journal Constitution wrote that this depicted incident was "entirely false and malicious" in an open letter. Employees of the newspaper demanded the film have a prominent disclaimer that "some events were imagined for dramatic purposes and artistic license". Wilde, who plays Scruggs in the film, defended her role and claimed a sexist double standard that Jon Hamm's portrayal of the FBI agent was not held to the same scrutiny. Commentators noted that Wilde's character was based on a real person, whereas the FBI agent was an amalgamation of multiple characters from the original script.”

It made me wonder what evidence Clint Eastwood has that Kathy Scruggs exchanged sex for information? If he exercised “license” to put that in his story even if it didn’t happen, how is that different from what the FBI did?

 

[orange79]

It made me wonder what evidence Clint Eastwood has that Kathy Scruggs exchanged s e x for information? If he exercised “license” to put that in his story even if it didn’t happen, how is that different from what the FBI did?

Glad you enjoyed it.

Personally, I will never see it. When directors/writes make up things in a supposedly truthful movie, they've lost me. There is no credible evidence Scruggs exchanged s e x for information. Just Eastwood creating things to make his main character more sympathetic. Smearing someone to make a point in your movie is disgusting. At least to me. Go back and talk to your empty chair.

'Crass and contemptible': is Clint Eastwood's new movie built on a lie?

Oscar-tipped drama Richard Jewell, the story of the security guard falsely accused of the 1996 Atlanta Olympics bombing, has come under fire for suggesting a journalist traded sex for FBI tips

www.theguardian.com

 

[SWC75]

Glad you enjoyed it.

Personally, I will never see it. When directors/writes make up things in a supposedly truthful movie, they've lost me. There is no credible evidence Scruggs exchanged s e x for information. Just Eastwood creating things to make his main character more sympathetic. Smearing someone to make a point in your movie is disgusting. At least to me. Go back and talk to your empty chair.

'Crass and contemptible': is Clint Eastwood's new movie built on a lie?

Oscar-tipped drama Richard Jewell, the story of the security guard falsely accused of the 1996 Atlanta Olympics bombing, has come under fire for suggesting a journalist traded sex for FBI tips

www.theguardian.com

I went without knowing of this controversy. i think I would have gone anyway because I was interested in the story. But this thing gives me mixed feelings about a film i otherwise enjoyed.

I have a five tier test for 'reality' in films:
Level 1- Things that we know happened. there is no controversy about them.
Level 2- Things that could have happened. They may be entirely fictional things involving fictional characters but if they are consistent with known facts and real characters are accurately portrayed, you're OK.
Level 3- Things that may have happened. There may be some controversy about them but they haven't been disproven and are consistent with known facts and real characters and help you tell your story, go ahead. You need to avoid libeling somebody or transferring blame or credit away from whoever deserves it.
Level 4- Things that probably didn't happen. You can't absolutely prove that they didn't happen but are unlikely to get people to believe it so it's going to have a negative impact on the credibility of your film, especially if you libeled someone or denied them credit.
Level 5- Things that are demonstrably false.

I've always felt that if your film remained at the first three levels, I as a viewer will go along with you. if you drift below that, it had better have been made clear that your film is a fantasy or comedy, not intended to be taken seriously for it to be acceptable.

I think that Clint, (and Billy Ray, who wrote the screenplay), drifted into level 4 on this one. I also don't think they needed to. They could have depicted the FBI, (a fictional character who can't be libeled), as a guy, slightly drunk, trying to impress a sexy reporter with his inside information. Maybe someone should make a film about Kathy Scruggs.

 

[orange79]

Agreed. Regardless of the movie, Jewell was unfairly vilified. Shameful.

 

[MSOrange]

Glad you enjoyed it.

Personally, I will never see it. When directors/writes make up things in a supposedly truthful movie, they've lost me. There is no credible evidence Scruggs exchanged s e x for information. Just Eastwood creating things to make his main character more sympathetic. Smearing someone to make a point in your movie is disgusting. At least to me. Go back and talk to your empty chair.

'Crass and contemptible': is Clint Eastwood's new movie built on a lie?

Oscar-tipped drama Richard Jewell, the story of the security guard falsely accused of the 1996 Atlanta Olympics bombing, has come under fire for suggesting a journalist traded sex for FBI tips

www.theguardian.com

I'm planning to see it. I lived in the Atlanta area during the 96 Olympics. They tried to have one area that was fun and you didn't have to go through layers of security and then Eric Rudolph had to do this. It's just horrible what happened to Richard Jewell when he was a hero. That being said, I would be lying if I wasn't part of letting the media get away with it by believing he was the guy at first.

But I am with you 100% on your main point. I am a true story movie fanatic and it just infuriates me when things are made up, often for no good reason.

 

[orange79]

I'm planning to see it. I lived in the Atlanta area during the 96 Olympics. They tried to have one area that was fun and you didn't have to go through layers of security and then Eric Rudolph had to do this. It's just horrible what happened to Richard Jewell when he was a hero. That being said, I would be lying if I wasn't part of letting the media get away with it by believing he was the guy at first.

But I am with you 100% on your main point. I am a true story movie fanatic and it just infuriates me when things are made up, often for no good reason.

At the time, I worked for AT&T (the main sponsor of the '96 Olympics). Our entire building was like a morgue (no disrespect intended) that day.

 

[Faegan]

I'm looking forward to seeing it. As with any media of this nature that I digest, I TRY to make sure I'm fully aware of the narratives being advanced and the general perspectives of the people involved (artists and critics).

 

[Capt. Tuttle]

I'm planning to see it. I lived in the Atlanta area during the 96 Olympics. They tried to have one area that was fun and you didn't have to go through layers of security and then Eric Rudolph had to do this. It's just horrible what happened to Richard Jewell when he was a hero. That being said, I would be lying if I wasn't part of letting the media get away with it by believing he was the guy at first.

But I am with you 100% on your main point. I am a true story movie fanatic and it just infuriates me when things are made up, often for no good reason.

It appears to be a reminder that our media long ago were more worried about ratings and an interesting narrative than truth and true journalism. It is not just a recent happening. This, as much as anything, has led to so many issues in our country today.

 

[Halfmooncuse]

I saw Clint Eastwood’s “Richard Jewell” today and liked it from beginning to end. I recall thinking at the time of the Olympic Park bombing investigation that everything they were saying about him: that someone said he was ‘weird’, that he’d lost a job as a deputy for racing with his police car, that he liked to hunt in military fatigues, that he was a law enforcement wannabe and that he wasn’t quite where he said he was at a particular time on the security tape all really amounted to nothing and I remember Tom Brokaw, (who appears in the film in a tape from that time), when asked about this said “I’m sure the FBI has a lot more than just that”. It turns out they didn’t and that someone else had planted the bomb and this is the story of what Jewell, (who died of a heart attack at age 44 in 2007), and his mother went through as a result. The story telling is straight-forward, (save for a brief dream sequence), and economical. The performances are fabulous, led by Paul Walter Hauser, a doppleganger for Jewell in both form and manor, Sam Rockwell as his fiery lawyer, Kathy Bates as his bewildered mother, (the FBI took her panties in as possible evidence), Jon Hamm as a FBI agent who assumes Jewell to be guilty based on a 'profile' of the likely bomber and who patches up his theory as it develops holes instead of questioning it, and Olivia Wilde as a reporter who gains glory by breaking the story but dissolves into tears when she realizes what she’s down to the guy and his mother. These days the government and the media seem to be at war with each other. Back then they were both out to get Richard Jewell. I found myself identifying with Jewell immediately, as I think anyone would. I stayed with the movie the whole way and it stayed with me.

Among the previews before the film was a trailer for another film about a falsely accused person based on a true story: Just Mercy based on the memoir of Bryan Stevenson:
Bryan Stevenson - Wikipedia I might see that one, too. The innocent man is a staple of popular entertainment, from Perry Mason to Hitchcock, so I may wind up seeing that one, too.

But here’s an irony, (from Wikipedia’s article on Richard Jewell):

“The film came under fire for its portrayal of late Atlanta-Journal Constitution reporter Kathy Scruggs, who died in 2001. Criticism was specifically directed at the film for depicting her offering to trade s e x with an FBI agent in return for confidential information. The current editor-in-chief of the Atlanta-Journal Constitution wrote that this depicted incident was "entirely false and malicious" in an open letter. Employees of the newspaper demanded the film have a prominent disclaimer that "some events were imagined for dramatic purposes and artistic license". Wilde, who plays Scruggs in the film, defended her role and claimed a s e xist double standard that Jon Hamm's portrayal of the FBI agent was not held to the same scrutiny. Commentators noted that Wilde's character was based on a real person, whereas the FBI agent was an amalgamation of multiple characters from the original script.”

It made me wonder what evidence Clint Eastwood has that Kathy Scruggs exchanged s e x for information? If he exercised “license” to put that in his story even if it didn’t happen, how is that different from what the FBI did?

He’s an empty chair!

 

[Halfmooncuse]

It appears to be a reminder that our media long ago were more worried about ratings and an interesting narrative than truth and true journalism. It is not just a recent happening. This, as much as anything, has led to so many issues in our country today.

It’s symbiotic. The media present what gets them ratings and people watch the media that provides them what them want to see and hear. The result is a further division in what used to be a United States

 

[OttoinGrotto]

This movie reviewer has some interesting takes -

Main review ’Richard Jewell’ Is A Shameful Character Assassination Disguised As A Hero’s Story

In-depth on inaccuracies Fact Vs. Fiction In ’Richard Jewell’: Kathy Scruggs Deserved Better

 

[SWC75]

It should be noted that Eastwood didn't take over the project until last spring. Originally it began as a vehicle for Leonardo DeCaprio and Jonah Hill, who were co-producing, (their names are still in the credits) and were going to play the lawyer and Jewell. That was in 2014 and the script was written by Billy Ray, (The Hunger Games and others) at that time for DeCaprio and Hill, whose politics are somewhat different from Eastwood's. it's based on a 1997 Vanity Fair Article.

Richard Jewell (film) - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Clint Eastwood Circling ‘Ballad Of Richard Jewell’ For Fox/Disney

EXCLUSIVE: Clint Eastwood is circling to next direct The Ballad Of Richard Jewell, and has been in discussions with Disney/Fox drama based on the life of a security guard whose life was turned upsi…

deadline.com

AMERICAN NIGHTMARE: The Ballad of RICHARD JEWELL | Vanity Fair | February 1997

I scanned the article for mentions of Kathy Scruggs. There's one section a little more than halfway down:

"Kathy Scruggs, a police reporter, who had allegedly gotten a tip from a close friend in the F.B.I., got a confirmation from someone in the Atlanta police...Scruggs had good contacts in the Atlanta police, and she was tough. She was characterized as "a police groupie" by one former staff member. "Kathy has a hard edge that some people find offensive," one of her editors told me, but he praised her skills."

Later, about 80% of the way down:

"After a telephone conversation with Watson Bryant, Kathy Scruggs quoted him saying, "Yes, he did have a sample of the blown-up bomb." Bryant accused her of egregiously misquoting him. He remembered saying to her, "Yes, Richard had souvenirs of the bombing." Scruggs had not taped their conversation. "She cut the 'ing' off of 'bomb,'" Bryant later told me, but Scruggs strongly denies this. The day the story broke, Bryant criticized Scruggs on local radio. That afternoon she appeared at his office to attempt to clear up the misunderstanding. "I don't like your reporting," Bryant recalled telling her. "I'm human, too," she said."

That's it. Nothing about sex with an FBI agent.

Whether Clint had the script changed or just did it as it was written, I don't know. Hollywood is famous for departing from reality to enhance a story, (see "The Express"). it doesn't have to be Eastwood. As I watched the film, I just saw it as Jewell's story, not a metaphor for what's happening to Trump. As far as the minimal mention of Eric Rudolph, well, it's not his story. Another movie could be made about him. Jewell's story ends with his being fully cleared.

 

[Newhouser]

anyone interested better hurry up and go - Box office returns mean it could be out of theaters by 1/1

 

[Alsacs]

Glad you enjoyed it.

Personally, I will never see it. When directors/writes make up things in a supposedly truthful movie, they've lost me. There is no credible evidence Scruggs exchanged s e x for information. Just Eastwood creating things to make his main character more sympathetic. Smearing someone to make a point in your movie is disgusting. At least to me. Go back and talk to your empty chair.

'Crass and contemptible': is Clint Eastwood's new movie built on a lie?

Oscar-tipped drama Richard Jewell, the story of the security guard falsely accused of the 1996 Atlanta Olympics bombing, has come under fire for suggesting a journalist traded sex for FBI tips

www.theguardian.com

Yet you will pay for the Boston Globe? I could write a long list of things that papers has made up and published. Kevin Cullen is still there. His own list alone is laughable. Shirley Leung, Rene Graham I could go on.

I am not going to see Richard Jewell because its a political movie taking advantage of today's polarized world but this movie is making things up is no different than the Oliver Stone movies W. /JFK /Nixon /Frost vs. Nixon.
The mini-series Roosevelts did the same thing.

While Scruggs may not have exchanged sex for information she and AJC had to pay Jewell a big time settlement for their stories.

 

[orange79]

Yet you will pay for the Boston Globe? I could write a long list of things that papers has made up and published. Kevin Cullen is still there. His own list alone is laughable. Shirley Leung, Rene Graham I could go on.

I am not going to see Richard Jewell because its a political movie taking advantage of today's polarized world but this movie is making things up is no different than the Oliver Stone movies W. /JFK /Nixon /Frost vs. Nixon.
The mini-series Roosevelts did the same thing.

While Scruggs may not have exchanged s e x for information she and AJC had to pay Jewell a big time settlement for their stories.

You just can't resist another Globe poke, can you? Let it go. Seriously. I am not a Patriots fan - I couldn't give a rat's a$$ if the Sports section is trolling the Patriots. I don't read the Globe for just the Sports section.

FYI - I didn't see the Oliver Stone movies, either.

Jeez.

 

[Cusester]

Trumpaganda. Those bad guys at the Fbi at it again.

 

[Shrmdougluvr]

I probably wont see the movie in the theater and i havent read all the background on the issue, but I found two things interesting:

1. The studio hasnt walked back their position on this, not even a little; and
2. The actress that played Scruggs seems pretty comfortable with the portrayal, and she's no shrinking violet when it comes to social issues.

 

[PhatOrange]

I read a lot about the reporter several months ago and she was widely known to be a hard partier, had cop boyfriends and used her sexuality to her advantage. Maybe she didn't bang the FBI guy or maybe she did. It was sort of her reputation back then and where there's smoke there is fire.

People up in arms about the way she was portrayed in this movie is just because we live in the me too movement. The old articles about her (pre-movie) sure paint a different picture.

Here's an interesting article from 2003.

Requiem for a Reporter: Kathy Scruggs - Atlanta Magazine

AJC ace Kathy Scruggs broke the story that made Richard Jewell a household name. It also started her downward spiral.

www.atlantamagazine.com

 

[SWC75]

I read a lot about the reporter several months ago and she was widely known to be a hard partier, had cop boyfriends and used her s e xuality to her advantage. Maybe she didn't bang the FBI guy or maybe she did. It was sort of her reputation back then and where there's smoke there is fire.

People up in arms about the way she was portrayed in this movie is just because we live in the me too movement. The old articles about her (pre-movie) sure paint a different picture.

Here's an interesting article from 2003.

Requiem for a Reporter: Kathy Scruggs - Atlanta Magazine

AJC ace Kathy Scruggs broke the story that made Richard Jewell a household name. It also started her downward spiral.

www.atlantamagazine.com

As I said, somebody should make a movie about her, too.