Tag Archives: TRON: Legacy

Richard Jewell (2019): Media Frenzy

In an age of pivotal news breaking every moment, the story of Richard Jewell may not be known to younger audiences, but it is one relevant to our modern times. Jewell (Paul Walter Hauser; I, Tonya) is a former police officer now working security at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta. He asks the local police to call in an unidentified package when he spots a discarded backpack only to discover a live bomb in the bag. He works to evacuate people from the area before the bomb explodes, saving many lives, and is an immediate hero for his actions until public opinion starts to change. A local paper reports that he was being investigated as a suspect in the bombing, a routine part of the FBI’s process, and he soon becomes the media’s villain.

The film boasts a strong cast with Hauser up to the task of playing the maligned, but well-meaning lead. He shows Jewell’s naïve trust of authority and his true devotion to justice, but also how this can negatively impact others when he is too adherent to the letter of the law. Jewell is shown as a simple man whose main goal in life is to be one of the good guys which makes the sudden shift in public opinion all the more hurtful. By his side is Sam Rockwell (Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri) as his lawyer, who seems to have carved out a niche for himself playing these types of roles. Rockwell is straightforward and sharp, unafraid to tell Jewell what mistakes he is making or to tell off the authorities when needed.

Rockwell, as the lawyer, provides some much needed support to Jewell’s family.

The main antagonists become the media and law enforcement. Jon Hamm (Mad Men) plays the FBI agent that leaks Jewell’s name and becomes fixated on convicting him. He seems selfish and willfully oblivious as he ignores facts and relies on unproven hunches to continue the investigation. The brunt of the blame for Jewell’s ordeal is placed on Kathy Scruggs (Olivia Wilde; TRON: Legacy), the local reporter that first lists Jewell as a suspect. The real-life Scruggs has passed away so there is no way to know how realistic her portrayal is, but Wilde does her no favors. Scruggs is shown as a mean, slimy, immoral reporter that will sleep with people for info just so she can get a story with little regard for its consequences or veracity.

While the film is right to indict the press and police in Jewell’s living nightmare, the story plays this too safe. The legal battle that ensues as Jewell is brought in by the FBI and his trusting nature is taken advantage of to trick him into implicating himself is appropriately infuriating and Hauser and Rockwell are likable leads. The issue is that the film doesn’t attempt to grasp the full picture of what caused the situation. It never addresses the public’s role in feeding the media’s focus on Jewell over other possible suspects and the ease many felt with stereotyping Jewell based on his background. This is a noticeable but not debilitating omission that would have made for a much more complex, challenging film. As it stands, Richard Jewell is a safe, but effective drama about the damaging impact of a media frenzy.

3/5 stars.

Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk (2016)

In 2012, Peter Jackson released The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey in 3D, displayed at 48 frames per second (fps). He, along with James Cameron, claimed that shooting at a high frame rate made viewing 3D a more stable experience and would prevent the headaches they sometimes cause. Here, Ang Lee (Life of Pi) brings us a film shot at 120 fps in 4K 3D. I was lucky enough to see the movie in one of the few theaters that are equipped to show it at its native 120 fps.

The film tells the fictional story of a Billy Lynn (Joe Alwyn), a young soldier who recently earned a Silver Star when caught on video leaping into the line of fire to save his Sgt. Shroom (Vin Diesel; The Fast and the Furious). Lynn and his team are invited to come on stage during a halftime show by football team owner Norm Ogelsby (Steve Martin; The Jerk) while they are temporarily back home for Shroom’s funeral. Along the way, Lynn reconnects with his sister Kathryn (Kristen Stewart; The Clouds of Sils Maria) and has a brief romantic encounter with a cheerleader.

The most immediate and striking aspect of the film are its visuals. The images are perfectly clean, without the slightest hint of grain or imperfections, and movement appears differently. The high frame rate means motions are almost too smooth. While initially jarring, the unique look quickly becomes acceptable. To Lee’s credit, the high frame rate significantly improves the 3D effect. Unlike viewing normal 3D films, where the images to separate when your eyes dart back and forth, here the 3D effect always holds constant and Lee uses it for impressively staged shots that take full advantage of the increased image depth.

Vin Diesel offers some sage advice as the spiritual Sergeant.
Vin Diesel offers some sage advice as the spiritual Sergeant.

The drawback to the image clarity is that it puts acting, good or bad, into stark relief. Lynn’s team has the back and forth expected from a tight knit group of young men, but the cheesy banter is made even more blatant by the visuals. The moments when an actor deliberately pauses before responding with a memorized quip are obvious and it makes the acting from the younger cast feel forced. The real standout is Garret Hedlund (TRON: Legacy) as Sgt. Dime. His loud, but incredibly eloquent and often hilarious diatribes convey his strength but also his love of his reports. Hedlund’s confident acting steals every scene and exemplifies the potential benefits of the shooting at this frame rate.

The film is at its best in scenes of action. Whether it is the fireworks of the halftime show or the deafening gunfire of battle, the film’s look is transportive. Normally, we look at films displayed on a flat screen. Here, it feels as if we are looking through the screen. In flashbacks of Lynn’s service, exploding buildings feel within reach and it makes every gunshot immediate. Lee smartly compares war scenes with the pyrotechnics of the concert to portray the effects of PTSD. The soldiers of Bravo squad leap at normal sounds because they are taken back their tour in Iraq. Using the strengths of his chosen medium, Lee is able to do the same to the audience.

Some have claimed that claimed that the format of the film is distracting and a step in the wrong direction. This idea is too narrow-minded to be correct. Using 120 fps will likely never become the standard. Instead it is a unique alternative that offers different strengths from the regular 24 fps we are used to. Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk makes a strong case for the potential of the format, especially in action films. The increased image depth pulls in the eye and brings out details that would otherwise have been missed. While slightly diminished by some obvious acting, Ang Lee effectively uses the new technology to create heightened immersion into a character’s world and state of mind.

4/5 stars.