Justt mercy is a
thoughtful meditation on the nature of
compassion and cruelty it's a startling
reminder that human beings are capable
of both extremes the film has been
adapted from the memoir of Bryan
Stevenson a harvard-trained lawyer who
moved to a small town in Alabama in 1989
to review charges against death row
inmates Bryan is black like most of the
men he defends but the system police
prosecution judiciary is white which
means there's little hope of justice or
mercy as one of the prisoners Walter
McMillian puts it young guilty from the
moment you're born director and
co-writer Destin Daniel cretin tells the
story with a somber stillness there's an
overarching compassion but also a
measured pace it took me a good 15 to 20
minutes to sink into the film but just
mercy accrues its power slowly cretin
the layer upon layer until suddenly
surprisingly you find yourself getting
teary it's devastating to witness the
blatant racism the upholders of the law
aren't even trying to pretend that the
system is fair black men are denied
justice at every step the benefits
vastly from strong performances my
Michael B Jordan who plays Bryan
Stevenson and Jamie Foxx who plays
Macmillan a logger who's been framed for
the murder of a white woman Jordan plays
down his natural charisma and renders
skillfully Bryan's frustration and
resilience early in the film when
Stevenson enters the Correctional
Facility he strip-searched his eyes
seemed haunted by the humiliation of it
there's no reason for him to be
subjected to this except to satisfy a
white cops whim meanwhile Fox stays
stoic in the face of discrimination and
death his suffering gives him a nobility
he keeps his dignity intact which makes
the situation even more heartbreaking
when McMillan finally crumbles you weep
with him
oscar-winner Bree Larson also appears as
a local advocate who works alongside
Stevenson but there really isn't enough
in her character to justify the casting
the centerpiece of just mercy is the
execution of a mentally ill prisoner
named her cretin doesn't allow us to
look away from what it's like to
life Hobbs request for a certain song
his fear and eventual acceptance of his
fate and the sound made when the
electric shocks killed him is just
horrific the sequence eloquently slams
the legal system just before he's
arrested McMillan who's cutting trees
looks up and contemplates a sky that
batch of blue becomes his solace as he
waits to be hanged for a crime he didn't
commit
cretin returns to it again through the
film making it a poignant reminder of
how much most of us take for granted
just mercy isn't stylistically dazzling
the chronicle of racism is also familiar
but cretin and his leads give the
narrative an urgency and timeliness
after all injustice fueled by bigotry
and bias is a story currently playing
out in every corner of the world
including ours for more reviews like
this
thoughtful meditation on the nature of
compassion and cruelty it's a startling
reminder that human beings are capable
of both extremes the film has been
adapted from the memoir of Bryan
Stevenson a harvard-trained lawyer who
moved to a small town in Alabama in 1989
to review charges against death row
inmates Bryan is black like most of the
men he defends but the system police
prosecution judiciary is white which
means there's little hope of justice or
mercy as one of the prisoners Walter
McMillian puts it young guilty from the
moment you're born director and
co-writer Destin Daniel cretin tells the
story with a somber stillness there's an
overarching compassion but also a
measured pace it took me a good 15 to 20
minutes to sink into the film but just
mercy accrues its power slowly cretin
the layer upon layer until suddenly
surprisingly you find yourself getting
teary it's devastating to witness the
blatant racism the upholders of the law
aren't even trying to pretend that the
system is fair black men are denied
justice at every step the benefits
vastly from strong performances my
Michael B Jordan who plays Bryan
Stevenson and Jamie Foxx who plays
Macmillan a logger who's been framed for
the murder of a white woman Jordan plays
down his natural charisma and renders
skillfully Bryan's frustration and
resilience early in the film when
Stevenson enters the Correctional
Facility he strip-searched his eyes
seemed haunted by the humiliation of it
there's no reason for him to be
subjected to this except to satisfy a
white cops whim meanwhile Fox stays
stoic in the face of discrimination and
death his suffering gives him a nobility
he keeps his dignity intact which makes
the situation even more heartbreaking
when McMillan finally crumbles you weep
with him
oscar-winner Bree Larson also appears as
a local advocate who works alongside
Stevenson but there really isn't enough
in her character to justify the casting
the centerpiece of just mercy is the
execution of a mentally ill prisoner
named her cretin doesn't allow us to
look away from what it's like to
life Hobbs request for a certain song
his fear and eventual acceptance of his
fate and the sound made when the
electric shocks killed him is just
horrific the sequence eloquently slams
the legal system just before he's
arrested McMillan who's cutting trees
looks up and contemplates a sky that
batch of blue becomes his solace as he
waits to be hanged for a crime he didn't
commit
cretin returns to it again through the
film making it a poignant reminder of
how much most of us take for granted
just mercy isn't stylistically dazzling
the chronicle of racism is also familiar
but cretin and his leads give the
narrative an urgency and timeliness
after all injustice fueled by bigotry
and bias is a story currently playing
out in every corner of the world
including ours for more reviews like
this
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