Just Mercy Review

We’re now onto my final review of a 2019 release before I dive into my list of favorite movies of 2019. That’s not to say I’m never going to go back and watch more movies I missed from 2019. There’s actually several of them that I plan on catching up on before the Oscars on February 9. This is just the last full review of a 2019 release that I’ll write on this blog. Once this is done, it’s time to dive into my favorite movies of 2019, a list I’m super excited to get into, even though it does make me slightly intimidated due to the large number of quality films that flooded in the last few months. Case in point. Most recently I posted my review of “1917.” Prior to seeing that, it was already a crowded field, but that is going to end up as one of my favorites. And then we have this one. “Just Mercy.” While the movie didn’t cash in on Oscar morning, audiences gave the movie an A+ on Cinemascore, which typically means people are responding very well. Once the credits rolled on my personal screening, after a few seconds of processing what we just saw, someone started clapping and immediately all of us joined, giving the movie a resounding round of applause, the likes of which you might get from a popular Marvel movie. So yeah, this is yet another movie that came to play.​

The story of "Just Mercy" is about Walter McMillan and his attorney Bryan Stevenson. Walter, whose nickname is Johnny D, was arrested in June 1987 for the murder of 18-year-old Ronda Morrison, who was shot and killed at a dry cleaner in November 1986. Upon his arrest, Walter was sent straight to death row pre-trail, where he stayed for over a year until his trial in August 1988. Following his trail, a jury of mostly white people found Walter guilty and recommended life in prison, which the judge overruled and gave the death penalty. All this despite no physical evidence, no motivate, and multiple witnesses testifying that Walter was at a fish fry for his church at the exact time of the murder. The only evidence that they had against Walter was the coerced testimony of a convicted felon that was given several months after the actual murder. So essentially Walter, a black man living in Alabama, was given the death penalty due to the horrendous actions of the blatantly racist justice system, led by a corrupt sheriff and other law officials who probably had no right being at those positions. The movie is mainly told from the perspective of Bryan Stevenson, a young black lawyer from Delaware who came in to fight this corrupt system. The movie is based on his memoir.

Given this premise, you know what you're getting into with this movie. And when I describe this premise to you, I'm actually describing the real life events of what happened to Walter McMillan. From my personal research on the situation, the movie does an uncanny job at portraying what actually happened. While watching the movie, having no idea what happened beforehand as I did my research afterwards, there was a part of me that wondered if there were some fictionalized elements to this because this story was so crazy and upsetting. Certainly there was a bit more ambiguity in this case, right? Maybe the sheriff wasn't an evil monster and maybe the judge and jury in charge weren't so blind with racism to give this honestly innocent man the death penalty. But no, this is not a movie that fictionalizes some life events in order for it to better fit into a narrative. All of the things portrayed in this movie actually happened. It made my skin crawl and my blood boil. At times while watching and researching the events, I wanted to lash out and hate the state of Alabama. We're over 120 years after the Civil War and 20-30 years after the Civil Rights movement and yet racism this strong was still happening?

But yes, I know. Racism still existed in the 80's and 90's. And stories from more recently unfortunately reveal that racism also is still very prevalent today. But racism isn't the only thing this very politically-charged film lashes out against. In fact, it's more of a side note to the main agenda of the film, which is unashamedly attacking the death penalty. And if this isn't the type of movie that you're interested in getting yourself into, you're more than welcome to go watch some escapism films like Star Wars or Jumanji instead. And while there's certainly nothing wrong with the latter type of films, I find myself rather enjoying the type of film that actually makes you think about real world issues because those are the type of films that actually mean something and can make a difference as audiences see them and discuss with their friends the issues presented. One thing that annoys me is when people tell me that they hate political movies and that politics have no place in movies. I strongly disagree with that. Granted, it's something that should be a case-by-case scenario, but there's certainly a place for politics in movies. Movies aren't just here to entertain us. Many movies are here to be educational and I think that element of filmmaking is very important.

I also don't like the unfair generalization of saying that one doesn't like politics in movies. What people really mean to say is that they don't like movies that disagree with their political opinion. Or instead of addressing the specific issue that's presented in the movie they watch, they'd rather have an easy out by saying they don't like political movies. But yet when a movie comes around about a subject they feel strongly, suddenly you don't see them hating the movie because of the politics. You see the double standard there? Now of course, I do understand the frustrations when you go into a movie specifically wanting some escapism and you get preached to instead. But "Just Mercy" is a movie where you should absolutely be well aware of what you're getting yourself into. The purpose of the movie is to make you upset. And there's a lot of sequences that are beyond heartbreaking. And not just with Walter's story. There's plenty of moments where Bryan interacts with other Death Row inmates, giving him more motivation to fight harder and stronger, despite the city officials not making things easy for him. They want their prisoner locked up and killed. They don't care about what evidence may or may not be there. Their reputations are on the line and that's their priority.

Now most of the details I've given you about this case is actually the background. The movie isn't about the murder of this girl, the arrest of Walter, or the initial trial. The movie is about Bryan's fight against the system to try to get Walter free. I thought the way in which the plot was constructed did a great job of keeping this flowing smoothly, despite it being a long process. There are plenty of movies out there that tell important stories, but do so in a way that fails to engage the audience, which is why I have to give a lot of credit to director Destin Daniel Cretton. If you don't know his name, you will before too long. In addition to "Just Mercy," he directed the 2013 film "Short Term 12," which I watched for the first time a few months ago and it is quite excellent. As far as why I say you will know his name eventually, Marvel has pegged him to direct the upcoming blockbuster "Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings," which is scheduled for release in February 2021. After watching both "Just Mercy" and "Short Term 12," "Shang-Chi" is in very good hands. The man knows how to direct a film. He had an excellent team working for him in "Just Mercy," with a phenomenal cast, but he took all of these tools and made an important film worth paying attention to.

Speaking of said phenomenal cast, we're led here by Michael B. Jordan as Bryan Stevenson and Jamie Foxx as Walter McMillan. This is a power duo here, both of whom are able to deliver emotional performances that drive home the poignant themes of the unjust system that was in place in this particular city during this time period. Jamie Foxx especially gives a very strong performance that I think was deserving of a supporting actor nomination. In fact, when I go look at the list of five nominees that got in instead, not a single one of them gave a better performance than Jamie Foxx in "Just Mercy," so that was a definite snub. I can't say that Michael B. Jordan was snubbed because the best actor race is extremely competitive this time around. And although he gave a solid performance that is worthy of recognition, Jamie Foxx is the one who deserved the Oscar nomination. These two performances weren't the only good ones in the movie. There's an excellent supporting cast here, highlighted by great performances from Tim Blake Nelson as Ralph Myers, Rafe Spall as District Attorney Tommy Chapman, Brie Larson as Ava Ansley, and  Rob Morgan as Herbert Richardson. I won't detail their specific roles in the movie, but their names deserved mentioning.

Most important, though, this is a movie that is certain to spark discussions about the death penalty. Due to the nature of the subject matter, as well as some interesting facts mentioned in the credits of the movie, that's the exact conversation that people will be having and I think that's important. Honestly, part of the reason why this movie had such a strong impact on me is that is that I feel very conflicted about the death penalty. While it's a very gray area, I lean towards life in prison over the death penalty. And I'm open to discussion about that in the comments of this post or on social media. If you don't want to comment personally, send me a private message or come talk to me in person. I won't detail all of my opinions and supporting arguments here in this review, but I really liked "Just Mercy" because it not only emphasized certain arguments that I've already had, but it brought additional arguments to the table that I didn't necessarily consider. The only "negatives" I have towards this movie is that there are plenty of other movies, documentaries and docuseries out there that are a bit more powerful in addressing this subject, but this is still an excellent addition to this subgenre of crime/justice movies that is worth seeing. My grade for "Just Mercy" is a 9/10.