What to Watch This Weekend: March 20, 2020

At Redbox: Jumanji: The Next Level

Jumanji: The Next Level returns with a new adventure featuring the same great cast, additional characters to meet along the journey, and a commitment to video game tropes that is entertaining and hilarious.  For more information, check out our review!

At Redbox: Richard Jewell

Richard Jewell is a compelling story about a man who went from hero to villain overnight, and the effect that can have on your life and beliefs.  It has a strong cast, a commitment to realism, and absolutely stellar performances by the main characters.  For more information, check out our review!

Streaming (Netflix): The Platform

The Platform delivers important messages about social responsibility in a new way, with a grim and interesting setting, fantastic characters, and a bizarre but effective premise.  For more information, check out our review!

Streaming (HBO): Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs and Shaw

Although it doesn't have the Fast & Furious "family," this film does still attempt to keep the family spirit of the main series alive.  Hobbs and Shaw is the fast summer movie that we expected, so jump into an exotic car, buckle up, and enjoy the ride.  For more information, check out our review!

Streaming (VUDU Free With Ads): The Founder
Michael Keaton's biographically based drama gives you a look at the founder of the world's most famous food chain and the ruthless and inspiring way he revolutionized both food and business.  The movie is not a happy meal, but the story of the Golden Arch's founder will give you a new perspective on the famous brand.

Streaming (Showtime): Green Book
If you are looking for something a little more wholesome in this quarantine weekend, Green Book has strong performances by Mahershala Ali and Viggo Mortensen, good lessons to be learned from this surprising friendship, and an interesting, if safe, take on traveling to the south at a time when a guide had to be published to tell black travelers what establishments were safe to go to.  

Review: Richard Jewell

Release date: December 13, 2019
Running time: 129 minutes
Starring: Olivia Wilde, Sam Rockwell, Paul Walter Hauser

Richard Jewell is a new drama / thriller about the Olympic security guard that discovered a bomb during the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta.  Although the bomb eventually went off, killing two people and injuring one hundred, Jewell's quick thinking and relentless procedural diligence greatly reduced the severity of the attack.  However, the tables quickly turn on Mr. Jewell when the FBI begins to investigate the man as the perpetrator of the attack, turning the lauded hero into a media villain overnight.  

The main standout of this film is the phenomenal cast and acting.  Every character in Richard Jewell is perfectly cast and the performances from that cast are perfect.  Sam Rockwell is a revelation as lawyer Watson Bryant, a hard-headed attorney that knew Jewell before the incident and fights tooth and nail against the investigation.  Kathy Bates was also a surprising bright spot as Jewell's mother.  She captivates the audience in pretty much every scene she is in and her emotional scenes are painful to watch.  Paul Walter Hauser is perfect as Jewell, and does an amazing, believable performance as the man.  

However, despite the fantastic acting, the movie itself is just not very interesting.  Although the first part of the movie is intense and will keep you on the edge of your seat, after the initial incident the movie transforms into more of a police procedure film.  Despite what the amazing trailer would have you believe, the film itself quickly slows down.  There is plenty to follow and enough potential investigative misconduct to keep you guessing, but overall this shift is just not that entertaining as a whole.  And the parts that are investigative misconduct seem like one offs; they aren't very eye catching and there is no major incident that sticks with you.  On top of this, the editing seems to be off.  Perhaps the movie was trimmed for time, but the timeline occasionally jumps with little change to the characters or overall scenery.  In one part the film jumps 10 years but the characters look the same.  And in other parts new, seemingly important characters were in scenes without any introduction or idea who they were.  And, as interesting as Jewell's character is, he is kind of an unlikable one.  He seems to keep sabotaging himself and not listening to even the simplest advice.  I imagine this is to keep the film true to the original story and characters, but sometimes a little Hollywood magic would have made the film a more entertaining endeavor.  

Richard Jewell is a compelling story about a man who went from hero to villain overnight, and the effect that can have on your life and beliefs.  It has a strong cast, a commitment to realism, and absolutely stellar performances by the main characters.  

Rent It

Screening: RICHARD JEWELL

RICHARD JEWELL

In theaters December 13

Rating: R

Run time: 131 mins

www.RichardJewellMovie.com

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Cast: Sam Rockwell, Kathy Bates, Jon Hamm, Olivia Wilde, Paul Walter Hauser

Director: Clint Eastwood

Drama. Directed by Clint Eastwood and based on true events, “Richard Jewell” is a story of what happens when what is reported as fact obscures the truth. “There is a bomb in Centennial Park. You have thirty minutes.” The world is first introduced to Richard Jewell as the security guard who reports finding the device at the 1996 Atlanta bombing—his report making him a hero whose swift actions save countless lives. But within days, the law enforcement wannabe becomes the FBI’s number one suspect, vilified by press and public alike, his life ripped apart. Reaching out to independent, anti-establishment attorney Watson Bryant, Jewell staunchly professes his innocence. But Bryant finds he is out of his depth as he fights the combined powers of the FBI, GBI and APD to clear his client’s name, while keeping Richard from trusting the very people trying to destroy him.

Screening Details:

Monday, December 9 – 7:00pm

AMC Mazza Gallerie

5300 Wisconsin Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20015

Screening Link: http://www.wbtickets.com/HRPLH05536

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As always, screenings are first-come, first-served so please arrive early to ensure you get a seat.