Free Republic

Years ago a professor of film studies told me that "Breaking Away" was one of the best "coming of age" films he'd ever seen because it didn't involve sex, but rather a boy being disillusioned with his cycling childhood heroes. "Richard Jewell" is in many respects a coming of age movie. Most people know the story: Atlanta Olympic Games security guard Richard Jewell (Paul Walter Hauser), who had been fired from a police department and from a college for excessive enthusiasm, finds a bomb in a backpack left at the Atlanta Centennial venue. He calls the police, assists in moving...

“You ready to start fighting back?” Sam Rockwell asks the title character that question deep into “Richard Jewell.” The Clint Eastwood film recalls how the FBI and media aligned to punish a security guard who saved lives at the 1996 Summer Olympics. Only the film feels like Eastwood is channeling a certain Commander in Chief. Conservatives have spent the last three years fighting against a culture calling them racist, sexist, homophobic and more. They’ve been maligned for wanting to keep the borders secure and jobs from fleeing overseas. Reporters and celebrities alike led the charge against Red State America, forgoing...

There's one director who doesn't care what his peers think. While the rest of Hollywood is running away from the state of Georgia in protest of the pro-life "heartbeat bill," which bans abortions the moment a heartbeat is detected, Clint Eastwood and Warner Brothers are staying put for their new film, Richard Jewell. The studio has explained to the press that the film, based on the true story of the bombing at Atlanta's Centennial Park during the 1996 Summer Olympics, would be best served by geographical authenticity. “We have made the decision to tell this compelling story — based on...

Much is known about the life of Bob Fosse, the legendary choreographer who won an Oscar for his direction of Cabaret. The same cannot be said for Gwen Verdon, his just-as-talented wife and lifelong professional partner. That should be remedied in some ways with the release of the new FX series Fosse/Verdon, which takes a look at the paths of the two artists and makes it clear just how much the two needed one another, and just how little Fosse gave back at times. In the series Fosse is played by Oscar-winner Sam Rockwell, while Verdon is played by four-time...