NAJMA HUSSAIN — A friend of mine told me about seeing Clint Eastwood’s Richard Jewell in Hollywood. She didn’t know I was in New York. “It’s going to upset your apple cart of an Oscar list,” she said.
That’s true, says film critic Roger Friedman.
According to Friedman, Eastwood, at 90, has made a jewel of a film in “Richard Jewell”. “A real masterclass in film-making” he wrote. “Eastwood will have to be nominated for Best Director”.
Hope I can watch it soon.
The grand young man also wrote his own scores, or worked on them with his son. In “The Mule,” the gorgeous soundtrack sounds like Clint wrote it: ‘Don’t let the old man in” by Toby Keith.
One comment on YouTube said: This song reminds me of my grandpa. He was very old when he died, but he fought as hard as he could, he had a heart attack at 86 and managed to continue living until he was 92! He was never crippled or needed assistance or a wheelchair, he fought in 3 wars and was the toughest, best person I’ve ever known. Rest In Peace, Papa.
In Jewell, as expected Eastwood came out strong according to my friend. He and ‘Don’t let the old man in” are synonymous. His ‘Jewell’ and ‘The Mule’ are tweets to all of us.
The filming of Richard Jewell began five months ago, in June of this year. And the movie is finished. Eastwood was beginning his 90th year (he actually turns 90 next May).
ABOUT JEWELL: Richard Jewell, dead since 2007. He was falsely accused by everyone– the media, the FBI, the Atlanta Journal Constitution– of planting a bomb that blew up at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta. For a month in the summer of 96 he was Public Enemy Number 1 until no case could be made besides anecdotal supposition. A year later the real bomber was found, but Jewell’s name was ruined.
With input from Irshad Salim
