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Aging well is one of the best signs of how inspired a movie is—especially for comedies. To make audiences laugh the filmmakers must share certain frames of reference with them—things against which other things can go splat, so to speak. Since frames of reference change over time, making lasting comedies often requires finding the right frames of reference. (more…)
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Kent Alexander & Kevin Salwen
The Suspect: An Olympic Bombing, the FBI, the Media, and Richard Jewell, the Man Caught in the Middle
New York: Abrams, 2019
Richard Jewell was an obese Georgia homeboy who wanted to be a hero and serve in law enforcement. He got his wish: His short life was crowded with heroism. (more…)
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Fróði Midjord is joined by Greg Johnson for this new episode of Guide to Kulchur, discussing the recently-released Clint Eastwood film Richard Jewell. It’s about the media witch hunt of eponymous security guard Richard Jewell, (more…)
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2019 was the year of the “frustrated-white-loser-living-at-home-with-his-mom” movie. First there was Todd Phillips’ Joker, an origin story of Batman’s most memorable nemesis, starring Joaquin Phoenix as the clown himself. Then came Clint Eastwood’s Richard Jewell, the true story of a Georgia security guard who discovered the Centennial Olympic Park bomb in 1996.
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Everyone loves a good underdog story. It’s what Hollywood does well. Not to give Hollywood too much credit since I’ll posit that the underdog story is uniquely suited for cinema, regardless if it’s Hollywood or Bollywood or some independent genius shelling out the shekels behind the scenes. I suspect the reason can be boiled down to two words: “home cookin’.” With the right script and performance, filmmakers can get an audience to fall in love with a character despite his personality quirks and manifest flaws. (more…)