THERE WAS A BOY IN MY class who liked to slip thumbtacks onto students’ chairs. I was one of the fortunate ones who avoided sitting on one because I noticed it when I went to sit down in my seat after recess. Though I did not know who was doing it, the teacher quizzed several of the boys in class; I was one of them. I was upset that I had been picked. The teacher questioned me because a few of the students’ seats around my desk had thumbtacks on them; it looked like I was the culprit. I do not know if it was the look of horror on my face or the tears welling up in my eyes, but the teacher finished her questioning by asking me to keep my eyes open and let her know if I see something suspicious looking going on. Soon after the boys were questioned (though now looking back, I wonder why that teacher only questioned the boys since both boys and girls were getting thumbtacks on their seats) the prankster ceased placing thumbtacks on students’ seats. I never found out which student was doing it in my class; I was just grateful the teacher didn’t suspect me.     BEING SUCH A YOUNG AGE BACK then, it was important to me to have people in authority believe in me. If I am recalling correctly, in an earlier review I told you about the teacher who tried discouraging me from going into writing. In front of the entire class she said I would amount to nothing if I studied to become a writer. Her words not only hurt me deeply; but because she was a “teacher,” I believed her and decided to switch my goals so I could devote my studies to science. It was not until I was halfway through my college studies before I realized I did not have a strong enough calling for the sciences; so, I switched my major and school to start over in the creative arts. That entire ordeal taught me a valuable lesson about accepting and believing in myself. The timing could not have come soon enough because that new thinking was soon tested when I started delving into the fitness world. Having come from a background where I had flunked PE twice in high school, avoided exercising and sports and was overweight; very few people believed I could become a fitness instructor. Despite the naysayers, I worked on achieving that goal by losing weight and living a healthier lifestyle. That determination is what I most identified with in this dramatic movie about the 1996 Olympics.      DOING EVERYTHING BY THE BOOK TO become an officer of the law was not enough for people to believe Richard Jewell, played by Paul Walter Hauser (Late Night; I, Tonya) did not have an ulterior motive when he discovered a suspicious package in Atlanta’s Centennial Olympic Park during the 1996 Olympics. Was it because he did not look like a person of authority? With Sam Rockwell (Jojo Rabbit, Vice) as Watson Bryant, Olivia Wilde (Lift Itself, The Words) as Kathy Scruggs, Jon Hamm (Baby Driver, Million Dollar Arm) as Tom Shaw and Kathy Bates (Personal Effects, Misery) as Bobi Jewell; I thought the acting was wonderful in this movie. The story started out slow for me; but as it unfolded and more characters came in, I found myself fascinated by the events taking place. From an entertainment standpoint I enjoyed watching this film; however, with doing a little research I do not know how much of what I watched was based on truth. There were times I felt the director was pushing his own agenda about victims and the media. Maybe because in my own life there were people who did not believe in me, I felt a stronger connection to the story in this picture. But even if you do not have that connection, this movie was interesting and enjoyable.

3 stars