Tag: Paul Walter Hauser

  • ‘Richard Jewell’ is no gem

    ‘Richard Jewell’ is no gem

    Sam Rockwell and Paul Walter Hauser in Richard Jewell

    “I am not a Democrat because they want your money. I am not a Republican because they take your rights away.” – Watson Bryant, attorney for Richard Jewell

    Perhaps the time has come for a new Hollywood movie rating scale.
    D for documentary film that is entirely factual. D minus for documentary films that are mostly factual. BT for films based on a true story that hew very closely to the truth. BT minus for films that are loosely based on a true story. I would classify QT’s Once Upon A Time in Hollywood in that category.

    The difference between that and Richard Jewell, the 38th feature film from director Clint Eastwood is that QT’s film makes no pretense of how it alters the actual events that the films are based on.

    Richard Jewell (Paul Walter Hauser, I, Tonya) is a former supply clerk who has been hired to work security at the 1996 Summer Games in Atlanta, GA. Along the road to get to Centennial Olympic Park on July 27, 1996, he had been a deputy with the Halberstam County Sheriff’s department, and a Piedmont College security guard. On that night, Jewell found a backpack that appeared suspicious. He begins to establish a perimeter around the bomb, getting the crowd to move back.

    The bomb explodes, killing one person directly and causing another to have a heart attack. 111 were wounded. Jewell was hailed as a hero for saving lives by his quick actions.

    Sam Rockwell, Kathy Bates and Paul Walter Hauser in Richard Jewell

    The accolades turned to scorn just a couple of days later. Kathy Scruggs (Olivia Wilde, Her, The Words) is a reporter on the “cop” beat for the local newspaper in Atlanta, the Atlanta Journal Constitution. She talks to FBI Agent “Tom Shaw” (Jon Hamm, Baby Driver) who lets slip that Jewell is the focus of the FBI’s investigation. She sprints to her desk in the newsroom and co-opts her co-worker Ron Martz (David Shae, Gemini Man) to co-author the article the AJC ran beneath the headline “F.B.I. suspects ‘hero’ guard may have planted the bomb.”

    Soon afterward, FBI Special Agents Shaw and “Dan Bennett” (Ian Gomez, Larry Crowne) stop by the apartment where Richard lives with his mother, Bobi (Kathy Bates, Krystal). Using subterfuge, they convince Richard to follow them back to their offices. But when they ask him to actually sign a Miranda warning form, he decides he needs a lawyer.

    He calls Watson Bryant (Sam Rockwell, Seven Psychopaths) who he befriended back in his days as a supply clerk. Bryant has moved down in the world from those days, having hung out his own shingle. Jewell had reached out to Bryant right after the bombing, as he’d been approached by someone wanting him to write a book. “Don’t sign anything before I see it” had been Bryant’s advice in a bit of overdone foreshadowing.

    There is a siege mentality in the Jewell home as hordes of media and law enforcement types fill the parking lot outside their residence. Soon the inevitable search warrant arrives and it seems that there are dozens of agents inventorying everything in the home. They take Bobi’s precious collection of Tupperware and her vacuum cleaner along with Richard’s arsenal of weapons.

    The remainder of the movie is a race by the FBI to nail down proof that Jewell is guilty, as Bryant and crew try to prove he is not. The usual excellence of a Clint Eastwood film is on display here. Well mixed music and exteriors, strong moments of heightened tension that enhance the tautness of the storytelling. The acting is solid, with Paul Walter Hauser nailing it as the titular character. The best moments are when he is the target of verbal lambasting by Rockwell’s Watson Bryant, climaxing when Hauser’s Jewell finally admits to the feelings he hides so well.

    This is a solid film that audiences will enjoy. If I were not someone who once earned a living as a working journalist, I would probably have given the movie a higher rating, probably above 4. I admit that my life experience is coloring my appraisal.

    Warning. Some of what follows will involve spoilers and points that the film either takes poetic license with, or highlights omissions from the real story of Richard Jewell.

    The tired trope of the female journalist who uses her sexuality to get stories needs to be discarded. That the news media makes mistakes is not a secret, but this mantra of “fake news” is so overstated that there aren’t adjectives to accurately describe the term’s overuse. Eastwood and screenwriter Billy Ray turned what could have been an outstanding film into a message piece and that message is don’t trust the press.

    I do not disagree with Mr. Ray’s contention that the AJC’s denouncement of the film’s portrayal of Kathy Scruggs was at least in part an attempt to distract from how they destroyed the life of an innocent man. But he also says he “…will stand by every word and assertion in the script” in a Vanity Fair article on the film. The scene where Olivia Wilde and Jon Hamm are flirting in a bar as she plies him for information on the FBI’s investigation is an implication she used sex to get stories. If their interactions weren’t enough, Hamm’s line of “if you couldn’t fuck it out of them (referring to other men who had information) what makes you think you can fuck it out of me” is a solid assertion of that claim.

  • ‘BlackKkKlansman’ may be Spike Lee’s best film, ever

    ‘BlackKkKlansman’ may be Spike Lee’s best film, ever

    Laura Harrier and John David Washington in BlacKkKlansman

    “Dis joint is based on some f***ed up fo’ real shit” – opening credits of BlackKkKlansman

    “Our clear goal must be the advancement of the white race and separation of the white and black races. This goal must include freeing of the American media and government from subservient Jewish interests – David Duke in a November 1978 issue of ‘The Crusader’ a Knights of the KKK newsletter

    Do not walk, but run to the nearest theater to see BlackKkKlansman from producer Jordan Peele and writer/director/producer Spike Lee.  It is an outstanding film.  It is an incredibly important film.  It begins with images of dead soldiers from Gone With the Wind and then shows “Dr. Kennebrew Beauregard” (Alec Baldwin – Rules Don’t Apply) providing a “science-based” explanation of why whites are the superior race.

    In the early 1970s, Ron Stallworth (John David Washington – HBO’s “Ballers”) becomes the first African-American member of the Colorado Springs, CO Police Department.  Relegated to the records room at first, he is summoned by “Chief Bridges” ( Robert John Burke – 2 Guns).  He is being transferred to the Intelligence Unit because they need someone to go undercover to attend a speech by Stokely Carmichael (Corey Hawkins – Kong: Skull Island).  The speech is being put on by the local college’s Black Student Union and its president “Patrice Dumas” (Laura Harrier – Spider-Man: Homecoming) is outside the venue.  Ron finds her attractive and makes a connection with her.

    After the event is over and he and his partners on the operation, “Flip Zimmerman” (Adam Driver – Paterson) and “Jimmy Creek” (Michael Buscemi – Being Flynn) are debriefed and back to work.  Ron sees an ad in the local paper for the KKK and on a whim he calls the number listed.  He speaks with “Walter Breachway” (Ryan Eggold) who is the local chapter president.  Ron makes a rookie mistake and uses his real name on the call.  So he suggests that Flip be the “white” Ron Stallworth in person while he continues as the telephone version.  Flip goes to meet with Walter and also meets “Felix” (Jasper Pääkkönen) who is extremely suspicious of Ron.

    Eventually Ron’s paperwork to join the “organization” is sent off to the national headquarters.  The real Ron calls the offices in Louisiana and winds up speaking with David Duke (Topher Grace – War Machine).  Duke finds Stallworth to be an excellent “White American” and agrees to expedite the issuance of his membership card.

    Topher Grace as David Duke in BlacKkKlansman

    The dichotomy of Ron being the verbal KKK member while Flip is the one the local chapter’s membership sees is fascinating, although it does present problems.  The tension escalates when it is announced that David Duke will be present when Ron is actually initiated into the KKK.  Ron and Flip sense something is being planned where lives will be endangered, but will they uncover what (if anything) is going on in time?

    John David Washington gives an excellent performance in his first major motion picture lead role.  The idea that a black man in the early 1970s can be a fan of blaxploitation flicks, while believing so strongly in the need for law enforcement that he doesn’t like hearing cops called pig is tough to carry off.  He does it with aplomb and the occasional reminder of the movie chops of his father, Denzel Washington.  But the best performance here is from Adam Driver.  He portrays a man who has spent his entire time as a cop supporting the “blue wall” and not being aware of or concerned with his heritage.  Now when confronted by the extreme bigotry of the KKK, he begins to question his own beliefs.

    Spike Lee mixes history and current events with the deft nature of a chef whose restaurant has easily achieved a 3 star rating from the Michelin Guide.  He contrasts the ugliness of bigotry against the backdrop of Colorado’s natural beauty.  The musical choices are outstanding.

  • ‘I, Tonya’ is a different look at a famous moment in figure skating

    ‘I, Tonya’ is a different look at a famous moment in figure skating

    Allison Janney in ‘I, Tonya’

    “Half of figure skating is opinion, convincing judges” – Scott Hamilton who won a gold medal in figure skating at the 1984 Winter Olympic Games

    “Look, I’m sorry but when the CIA wants to learn new dirty tricks they observe figure skaters and their moms” – Kim Cattrall as “Tina Harwood” in the film Ice Princess

    On January 6, 1994, figure skater Nancy Kerrigan (Caitlin Carver – Rules Don’t Apply) was attacked after a practice session prior to the 1994 U.S. Figure Skating Championships in Detroit.  Hopefully that isn’t a spoiler for anyone.  The film I, Tonya from director Craig Gillespie (The Finest Hours) tells the story of Tonya Harding (Margot Robbie – The Wolf of Wall Street), her husband Jeff Gillooly (Sebastian Stan – Logan Lucky) and Jeff’s friend Shawn Eckhard (Paul Walter Hauser), before and after the attack on Nancy Kerrigan.

    We see the origins of Tonya’s career as a skater, with her mother LaVona Golden (Allison Janney – Liberal Arts) pushing her along.  Young Tonya (Mckenna Grace – Gifted) has amazing physical gifts but because she comes from the “wrong side of the tracks” her future in the sport is questionable.  Then she comes under the influence of figure skating coach Diane Rawlinson (Julianne Nicholson – August: Osage County).

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