An excerpt from my script review for Richard Jewell which will be available 12/16/19:
3.) Quality of Characters
It might not sound like it from the previous section, but I did enjoy this script.
Right from the get go I was drawn by how “out of his league” Richard Jewell seemed, as he very much wants to get back into the world of law enforcement, so is willing to help the same men wanting to take him down because Richard respects the institution they represent.
Pair that with Watson Bryant, a down on his luck lawyer who became fed up with the system. (My one issue is we don’t really ever understand the “why” behind his giving everything up.)
Bryant takes a shine to Richard from the beginning of this story, and although he’s kind of a dick, you’re glad Richard has him in his corner.
Then enter the “villains” of the plot.
Kathy, a reporter who very much desires to cover more than the Olympics, and Shaw, an FBI agent tired, of playing babysitter at all the local Olympic events.
After the bombing Shaw and his fellow agents are forced to find the culprit, making them desperate, and Richard an easy target.
Add to that the “juicy” story Kathy was hoping for, and when the two get together she launches what appears, from the story, to be a smear campaign against Richard Jewell.
What propels the story forward is they’re both too invested that Shaw can’t see any other suspect but Jewell, and even once she figures out he couldn’t have done it, Kathy won’t admit she’s wrong.
These sorts of connections and motivations make for great storytelling, the issue for us as an audience though is not to take everything presented as fact in a piece meant for entertainment.
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