LOCAL FILM CRITIC DALE POLLOCK IS WITH US.
WE HAVE A LOT TO COVER.
DALE: GOOD MORNING.
MEREDITH: FIRST UP, THE BIOPIC A LOT OF PEOPLE ARE TALKING ABOUT, "RICHARD JEWELL." DALE: HE WAS THE SUSPECTED BOMBER IN THE ATLANTIC BOMBINGS IN 1996, AND PUBLICITY RUINED
HIM AND HIS FAMILY’S LIFE.
THAT IS WHAT CLINT EASTWOOD UNDERTOOK IN THIS PROJECT.
AND THERE WAS AN AMAZING PERFORMANCE BY PAUL WALTER HOUSER.
AND KATHY BATES, WHO I DID A MOVIE WITH, PLACES MOTHER, AND I THINK SHE IS GOING TO GET AN OSCAR NOMINATION.
BUT THE PROBLEM IS OLIVIA WILDE CHARACTER WHO PLAYS KATHY , SCRUGGS, A REPORTER FOR THE ATLANTA CONSTITUTION JOURNAL, AND THE MOVIE DIRECTLY STATES THAT SHE TRADED SEX FOR
INFORMATION FROM FBI AGENT JON HAMM.
THIS IS NOT SUBTLE.
AND THIS POOR WOMAN IS DEAD, CANNOT DEFEND HERSELF, AND THIS IS ONE OF THE WORST ETHICAL VIOLATIONS I HAVE SEEN A MAJOR FILM DO IN A LONG TIME.
AND APPARENTLY CLINT EASTWOOD , COULD CARE LESS.
MEREDITH: YES, THE AJC HAS CALLED ON WARNER BROS. TO ADDRESS THIS, SO WE WILL SEE WHAT HAPPENS.
DALE: WHEN YOU TAKE A TRUE CHARACTER AND YOU FICTIONALIZE THEM, AND YOU MAKE THEM SOMETHING THEY WERE NOT, THERE IS SOMETHING WRONG WITH THAT.
MOVIES HAVE HAD THIS PROBLEM INCREASINGLY BECAUSE EVERY OTHER FILM YOU SEE IS BASED ON A TRUE STORY INSPIRED BY TRUE EVENTS, , BASED ON TRUE CHARACTERS.
WELL, THERE SHOULD BE SOME HISTORICAL FAITHFULNESS TO THE RECORD.
YOU ARE NOT JUST ALLOWED TO INVENT WHATEVER YOU WANT AND STICK A REAL PERSON’S NAME ON IT.
MEREDITH: WE WILL LET THE VIEWERS DECIDE.
WE NEED TO MOVE ON TO A MOVIE I WAS ABLE TO SEE A COUPLE OF WEEKS AGO.
WE ARE TALKING ABOUT "A BEAUTIFUL DAY IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD," STARRING TOM HANKS AND WE HAVE DIFFERENT OPINIONS DALE: YES, I LOOKED FORWARD TO
THIS WITH GREAT ANTICIPATION AND I THOUGHT THAT TOM HANKS WAS A GREAT CHOICE.
HE DID A GREAT IMITATION IN THE FILM WITH A SQUINT AND IT DID NOT WORK WITH ME.
WHERE IT REALLY FELL DOWN WAS THE MATTHEW RHYS CHARACTER, A NEW FATHER WHO WAS MESSED UP IN TERMS OF HOW HE VIEWS FAMILY, AND IN THE COURSE OF THE MOVIE, MR. ROGERS IS SUPPOSED TO HEAL
HIM.
I DID NOT BUY IT.
I DID NOT LIKE THE MATTHEW RHYS CHARACTER FROM THE START, AND TO ME, HE IS NO BETTER OFF AT THE END OF THE FILM THAN IN THE BEGINNING.
AND I THOUGHT I WAS BEING PREACHED TO A LITTLE BIT BY THIS FILM.
MEREDITH: THANK YOU.
I LOVED IT.
I WALKED AWAY SOBBING.
I THOUGHT IT WAS A POWERFUL FILM ABOUT FAMILY AND RECONCILIATION.
YOU WILL NEED TO MAKE YOUR DECISION.
MOVING ON, WE ARE TALKING ABOUT "QUEEN AND SLIM." THIS IS A VERY MOVING MOVIE.
DALE: THIS HAS BEEN CALLED THE BLACK BONNIE AND CLYDE.
AND IT IS A GREAT PERFORMANCE.
THE EXCELLENT ACTOR FROM "GET OUT" COMES BACK AND IS PAIRED WITH AN ACTRESS WHO ALSO GIVES A GREAT PERFORMANCE.
THEY ARE ON A BAD FIRST DATE WHEN THEY ARE STOPPED BY A POLICEMAN AND EVERYTHING GOES WRONG AFTER THAT.
THEY END UP ON THE RUN, HUNTED ALL ACROSS THE COUNTRY, AND YET, THEY ARE TAKEN IN BY OTHER PEOPLE AND HELPED.
THIS IS WHERE IT IS LIKE BONNIE AND CLYDE, BUT THEY ARE NOT REALLY CRIMINALS.
UNFORTUNATELY, THIS FILM COMES TO A CONCLUSION YOU DREAD AND THEN IT HAPPENS.
SO YOU DO NOT WALK OUT OF THE THEATER FEELING GOOD AFTER THIS MOVIE, BUT IT IS A POWERFUL STORY, WELL DIRECTED, AND VERY WELL ACTED.
MEREDITH: THERE YOU GO.
QUICKLY MOVING ON AND WRAPPING UP, WE HAVE GOT TO TALK ABOUT THE POPCORNS.
HOW MANY FOR "RICHARD JEWELL"?
DALE: THREE.
IT WOULD HAVE BEEN FOUR IF NOT FOR THE OLIVIA WILDE CHARACTER.
MEREDITH: "BEAUTIFUL DAY IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD?" DALE: THREE.
I WAS TEMPTED TO GIVE IT TWO.
MEREDITH: AND FINALLY, "QUEEN AND SLIM?" DALE: I GIVE IT FOUR BECAUSE IT WAS UNEXPECTED AND MOVING.
THOSE ARE THE KIND I LIKE TO RECOGNIZE.
MEREDITH: SOMETHING TO MAKE YOU THINK.
IF YOU WOULD LIKE MORE MOVIE INFORMATION AND REVIEWS HEAD OVER TO DALEMPOLLOCK.COM.