Richard Jewell (film)

In 1986, Richard Jewell works as an office supply clerk at the Small Business Administration, where he builds a rapport with attorney Watson Bryant. Eventually, Jewell leaves the firm to pursue a law enforcement career. At one point, Jewell is hired as a sheriff's deputy, but ends up discharged. In early 1996, he works as a security guard at Piedmont College, but is fired after multiple complaints of acting beyond his jurisdiction. Jewell later moves in with his mother Bobi in Atlanta. In the summer of 1996, he works as a security guard at the Olympic Games, monitoring Centennial Park.

In the early morning of July 27, 1996, after chasing off drunken revelers during a Jack Mack and the Heart Attack concert, Jewell notices a suspicious package beneath a bench, which an explosives expert confirms contains a bomb. The security team, police officers, FBI agent Tom Shaw, and Jewell's friend Dave Dutchess move concert attendees away from the bomb before it detonates, and Jewell is heralded as a hero.

After being contacted by the dean of Piedmont College about his dislike and suspicions of Jewell, Shaw and his team determine that Jewell, as a white, male, "wanna-be" police officer, fits the common profile of perpetrators committing similar crimes; they compare him to others who sought glory and attention by rescuing people from a dangerous situation they created themselves.

Shaw is approached by journalist Kathy Scruggs of the Atlanta-Journal Constitution, and he reveals that Jewell is under FBI suspicion. The Constitution publishes Scruggs' story on the front page, disclosing the FBI's interest in Jewell as a possible suspect. Scruggs makes particular note of Jewell being overweight, the fact he lives with his mother, and work history to reassure herself that he fits the FBI's profile. The story quickly becomes international news.

Jewell, initially unaware of his changing public perception, is lured to the FBI office. Though initially cooperative, he refuses to sign an acknowledgement he has been read his Miranda rights and instead phones Bryant for legal representation. Bryant, now running his own struggling law firm, agrees and makes Jewell aware he is a prime suspect in the bombing.

Shaw and his partner Sam Bennet visit the dean of Piedmont College, who reinforces their suspicion of Jewell. The FBI searches Jewell's home and seizes property including true crime books and a cache of firearms. Jewell admits to Bryant that he has been evading income taxes for years and was once arrested for exceeding his authority. Bryant scolds Jewell for being too collegial with the police officers investigating him, and Jewell admits his ingrained respect for authority makes it difficult for him not to be deferential, even when the authorities are working against him.

Jewell and Bryant confront Scruggs, demanding a retraction and apology, but she stands by her reporting. Still not completely convinced of Jewell's innocence, Bryant and his secretary Nadya time the distance between the phone booth which was discovered to have made the initial threat of the bomb, and the bomb site, concluding it is impossible for someone to phone in the bomb threat and discover the bomb at the time it was found. Scruggs and Shaw come to the same conclusion, and the FBI changes their picture of the crime to include an accomplice. As their case weakens, the FBI try to link Dutchess to Jewell as a possible accomplice and lover.

Bryant arranges a polygraph examination, which Jewell passes, removing Bryant's doubt about his innocence. Bobi holds a press conference and pleads for the investigation to cease so she and her son may proceed with their lives. Jewell and Bryant meet with Shaw and Bennet at the FBI office, and after some irrelevant questions, Jewell realizes they have no evidence against him. When he asks pointedly if they are ready to charge him, their silence convinces him to leave.

Eighty-eight days after being named "a person of interest", Jewell is informed by formal letter that he is no longer under investigation.

In April 2003, Jewell, now a police officer in Luthersville, Georgia, is visited by Bryant who tells him that Eric Rudolph has confessed to the Centennial Olympic Park bombing.

An epilogue states that on August 29, 2007, Jewell died at the age of 44 of complications from diabetes and heart failure. It also mentions that Bryant and Nadya got married and had two sons, both of whom Bobi babysits to this day.

The project was initially announced in February 2014, when Leonardo DiCaprio and Jonah Hill teamed to produce the film, with Hill set to play Jewell, and DiCaprio set to play the lawyer who helped Jewell navigate the media blitz that surrounded him.[14] Paul Greengrass began negotiations to direct the film, with Billy Ray writing the screenplay.[15] Other directors considered include Ezra Edelman, known for the 2016 documentary O.J.: Made in America, and David O. Russell,[16][17] before Clint Eastwood was officially attached in early 2019. DiCaprio and Hill did not star in the film, though they remained as producers.[18]

In May 2019, Warner Bros. acquired the film rights from 20th Century Fox, which had been acquired by The Walt Disney Company earlier that year.[19] In June, Sam Rockwell was cast as the lawyer, and Paul Walter Hauser as Jewell. Kathy Bates, Olivia Wilde, Jon Hamm, and Ian Gomez were also cast.[20][21][22][23][24] In July 2019, Nina Arianda joined the cast.[25] Filming began on June 24, 2019, in Atlanta.[26]

In an interview with Ellen DeGeneres during her talk show, Eastwood explained how he continued to work on the film despite a looming studio wildfire.[27] Ellen described the November 10 blaze, known as the Barham brush fire, as a "really bad fire that came really close to the lot," adding that "air quality was so bad that everyone evacuated." Clint replied: "I was coming back down to do some work at a sound stage and I saw all this smoke going. And I'm getting closer and closer and its Warner Bros. and its smoke and I got almost up there and I thought, the whole studio's burning down, maybe I'll go in and see if I can retrieve something. So we went on the sound stage and started working and we forgot about it and...everybody said, 'The studio's been evacuated!' And I said, 'We're not evacuated, we're here working!'"[28]

Richard Jewell premiered at the AFI Fest on November 20, 2019[29] and was theatrically released in the United States on December 13, 2019, by Warner Bros. Pictures.[30]

A trailer for the film was released on October 3, 2019.[31]

• Richard Jewell at IMDb 
• Richard Jewell at AllMovie
• Richard Jewel at History vs. Hollywood