For clarity, Richard Jewell refers to the person or character, and RICHARD JEWELL is the title of Clint Eastwood’s new movie about Richard Jewell, the person or character.

Richard Jewell proved two things about human nature; the second is genuinely horrifying. First, he proved that there are good people in this world who want to do their job to the best of their ability and take great joy in helping people. They mean no harm to anyone. That said, Richard Jewell is also proof that evil does exist and is eager to tear you apart, set your life on fire and watch it burn.

For the uninitiated, Richard Jewell (I, TONYA’s Paul Walter Hauser in an unforgettable, Oscar-caliber performance) works security at the Centennial Olympic Park during the 1996 Summer Olympic Games in Atlanta, Georgia. Jewell has the appearance and speech like he’s an incompetent hillbilly (which Jay Leno famously mocked him by calling him “Una-doofus” after the Unabomber). Still, Jewell is actually highly intelligent and self-aware. We learn he studies the penal codes every night and memorizes police procedures. This is because Jewell aspires to be a sheriff again. Jewell is a good man and wants to do his job, but he often took his work too seriously, and it cost him a few jobs and inadvertently backfired when accused of a bombing he was innocent of. Jewell enjoys helping people and does it so well, it actually gets him fired from jobs (it doesn’t make sense to me, either.). He doesn’t look intelligent because of his country bumpkin demeanor and shame on the media and FBI for making judgments and using him as a punching bag of fat jokes based on his appearance. Awful and it’s enraging.

During a routine walk at a concert one night at the 1996 Summer Olympic Games, Jewell discovers a backpack, alerts the police and bomb squad of the suspicious bag. They laugh him off until they don’t because when the bomb squad opens the backpack, they see it’s packed with pipe bombs ready to explode at any minute (they eventually do and we’ll get to that). Jewell tells a colleague, “They told us in training, whenever you see the bomb guy go pale… run.” Terrifying.

The bomber (later discovered in real life to be coward Eric Robert Rudolph), called from a payphone and told the 911 operator the bomb would go off in 30 minutes. Like the Zodiac killer and his/her/their copycats, the real bomber wanted fame, and blowing up during a crowded Olympics was a perfect time.

The bomb squad wasn’t prepared, so all they could do was quietly and calmly tell people in the least alarming way: run. Jewell risks his life running up the podium to tell the camera and its crew to evacuate, and got as many out of the blast area as he possibly could. The bomb goes boom and its contents full of nails zips in every direction, intending to rip through and kill hundreds. It would have killed hundreds if it weren’t for Jewell’s discovery and quick reaction to get the police to investigate despite them not taking him seriously (“It’s probably full of beer,” one says). Jewell risked his life to save a lot of others that night. He was so humble about it the next day, giving credit to paramedics, firemen, and police who were there when interviewed on TV. Jewell didn’t care to be seen as a hero and he didn’t want the credit. To Jewell, he was just doing his job. This is what he spent hours reading and preparing for — “just in case this happens” scenarios; he wanted to make sure he knew what to do.

Days later, the FBI leaked to reporter Kathy Scruggs (Olivia Wilde in a staggeringly great performance) of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution newspaper that Jewell was the primary suspect in the bombing. They (erroneously and moronically) assumed he planted that bomb so he could save lives, become the hero, get all the fame and glory, and get his job back as sheriff (again, he was fired for taking his job too seriously which annoyed his superiors).

The only thing Richard Jewell was guilty of was doing his job.

Jewell didn’t know he was the prime suspect when the paper leaked. This was before social media, so the only way to know what was going on in the world was through newspapers or TV news stations.

There are things you’re about to read that happen in the movie. They seem so outrageous but they did happen.

Before going to work, the FBI (Jon Hamm), ask him to come with him. His team tried to dupe Jewell into “confessing” to the bombing by staging a fake video where he admits to the bombing and is supposed to sign a “confession.” Jewell, being smarter than the FBI because of his years of reading, training, and studying, sniffed out their bullshit and knew something wasn’t right. He called his lawyer, Watson Bryant (played by the impossibly cool Sam Rockwell), and let him know that something was wrong and he needed help.

This is where Richard Jewell is proof that evil is very real.

When Scruggs ran the story that Jewell was the prime suspect based on the FBI’s half-baked theory based on zero information, the media immediately vilified him. Jewell went from hero to villain in a day, and the media became the judge, jury, and executioner (later coined as “Trial by media”) of whether or not he was innocent or guilty without a shred of evidence. This movie is essential for many reasons, and one is that history repeats itself. We still live in a society where social media (specifically, Twitter) becomes judge, jury, and executioner and can ruin a life in minutes. Guilty until proven innocent. GUILTY. GUILTY. GUILTY. Whoa, this person was innocent the whole time.

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After watching RICHARD JEWELL, I thought about why we go to the movies. To be entertained, right? Entertainment at the multiplex is currently superheroes, monsters, Keanu Reeves fighting bad guys, and Star Wars — stuff that doesn’t happen in real life. So why would anyone want to see RICHARD JEWELL if it’s not classified under the kind of entertainment most people love to see? The answer: Richard Jewell’s story is an essential part of history. We need movies like RICHARD JEWELL to keep history alive to be aware of and see how much our culture (has or has not) changed. There are false accusations daily and lives ruined because of it. TMZ will write a story as an “exclusive” based on a rumor. Millions see that and run with it. GUILTY. GUILTY. GUILTY.

Richard Jewell was eventually exonerated and went on to become a deputy sheriff until he died at the tender age of 44 from heart failure. What he went through was devastating but it’s comforting to know the was able to get back on the saddle as a sheriff and achieve his dreams before his death.

I’m a thousand words in and haven’t talked about the movie much. I guess this will be a review/editorial on the movie and the real event. I’m just writing my heart out because what happens to Richard Jewell really pisses me off. Horrible things happened to a very good man. Paul Walter Hauser plays Richard Jewell with so much heart and humanity you feel like the actor on screen is the one being crucified. In his first lead role, Hauser is so good; he digs up those intense emotions from the audience that we try to keep at bay because it makes us angry, and we just want to hug him and tell him to be courageous and fight back. What Jewell went through is deeply heartbreaking and upsetting, and Hauser takes us on a rollercoaster of hell but we stay with him the entire time because we want to see this guy get the pardon he deserves. This is a high compliment to Hauser because if he can evoke these strong feelings from us for his first starring role, imagine what he’ll give us as his career continues to flourish.

When we meet Jewell (Hauser) for the first time, he’s working the supply room clerk at a lawyer’s office. He hands a Snicker’s bar to Watson Bryant (Rockwell), who endearingly calls him Radar for his sharp eye for detail because he noticed Bryant’s secret Snickers stash was low so he filled it, an endearing bond is formed and Bryant later becomes his lawyer during the whole case. Snickers became their bond and Rockwell and Hauser’s comrade is so charming and real. It feels like these two actors have known each other their whole lives.

I've never seen footage of the real Richard Jewell. Still, I imagine it's precisely how Paul Walter Hauser plays him, with poignant childlike innocence. Eastwood picked Hauser because of his uncanny appearance as the real Richard Jewell, but that doesn't mean much. The acting is what counts. As Jewell, Paul disappears and becomes Richard Jewell. We don't see Paul Walter Hauser, he disappears and we see Richard Jewell. This is the highest compliment you can give an actor. When you're watching a biopic and forget you're watching an actor and not the real person s/he is playing, that's some kind of wonderful. Hauser's performance is one of the finest of this year and of his career so far, and he's just getting warmed up. He portrays Jewell just as I imagine: a sweet, tender teddy bear. A guy so polite, he would apologize to a fly if he hurt its feelings. Hauser plays Jewell with such courage and bravura. His performance is brilliantly nuanced, and he deserves an Oscar nomination, if not a win. As co-writer and director, Clint Eastwood, at 89, he has made one of the best films of his career. He managed to get the perfect ensemble — Hauser, Wilde, Rockwell, and Kathy Bates. There's a scene in RICHARD JEWELL that packs a mean punch to the gut. Kathy Bates (who plays his proud mother, Bobi Jewell) is watching the news and learns of her son's heroic deed and says with a giant smile, "My boy." Shortly after, this joy is stolen from her when he becomes the prime suspect, and I can't get her shattered facial expression out of my head when she hears the tv as she's doing things around the house tell the viewers that he's the prime suspect. Jewell was very close with his mother so at this moment, her world was just chewed up and spit out. It's gut-wrenching. Bates knows how to rip your heart out at the same time as her character's. No mother wants to think they raised a child who is an alleged murderer, and no mother wants to watch her son get lynched and put through an unbearable amount of pain. Bobi Jewell didn't even have time to celebrate her son's bravery before she was robbed of this joy. RICHARD JEWELL is a powerful movie people will be talking about for a long time because of the riveting performances and denial that this really happened.

Disclaimer: I am friends with the lead actor in this film, Paul Walter Hauser. That said, this movie was reviewed without bias. Yes, I want Paul to succeed because he has worked very hard, but I know a good movie when I see one. Richard Jewell is a good movie.