Richard Jewell  ★★★½

CLINT Eastwood returns to some directorial form with the true-life drama Richard Jewell.

Most of Eastwood’s 38 efforts behind the camera have been pretty good, in some cases brilliant, but The Mule and The 15:17 to Paris were far from his best.

In 1996, at the time of the Olympic Games in Atlanta, Richard Jewell was a man of limited social capabilities, obsessed with law enforcement and still living with his mother.

Despite being awkward around others, Richard had always been a hard worker and never short of a job, even if some of them, such as his stint as a police officer, didn’t last long.

He had been looking forward to Atlanta hosting the international event and had landed a job as a security guard, proudly taking the job very seriously, to the point of becoming an object of fun and annoyance for some colleagues and police officers.

Richard’s diligence leads him to query a backpack left under a wooden seat at the back of a concert venue in Centennial Park. Initially accused of over-reacting, the authorities realise too late that the threat is real and the bomb explodes leaving many injured.

Richard is lauded as a hero and his mother Bobi is beside herself with pride. But the FBI’s investigation takes a dramatic turn when investigators start building a profile of the suspect bomber which points circumstantially to Richard.

Determined to wrap things up as quickly and easily as possible, the FBI and media investigations combine to create widespread public vilification of Richard who turns to a maverick lawyer for help.

It’s a great story and, as with Eastwood’s best, is told in a straight-forward manner with a minimum of fuss and visual impact that could distract the attention.

Having said that, the bombing itself is a compelling sequence that convincingly demonstrates the shock and trauma of at attack on the unsuspecting public.

Paul Walter Hauser, who made such an impact as one of the hapless plotters in 2017’s I, Tonya 17, is terrific and strikes the right balance of empathy from the audience along with doubt as to his true innocence.

Kathy Bates is good as his mother, although not deserving of an Oscar nomination, and Sam Rockwell even better as Richard’s crusading lawyer Watson Bryant.

Unfortunately, the script reduces journalist Kathy Scruggs, played by Olivia Wilde, and the key FBI agent played by Jon Hamm to caricatures manipulated for purposes of a script that wears its heart – and unwavering support of Richard Jewell – on its sleeve.