Clemency

This features a really poignant and strong effort from Alfre Woodard as the warden of a prison charged with ensuring the execution of prisoners. She, "Bernadine" is finding it increasingly more difficult to reconcile the responsibilities of her job with her own conscience and her marriage. None of these demons are helped when one such "procedure" goes awry and, though not her fault, she finds herself under increased scrutiny as Aldis Hodge's "Woods" is soon to follow. The performance elements of this from Woodard and from Wendell Pierce as her loving but increasingly exasperated husband "Jonathan" work well, creating a really quite powerful vision of a woman torn between remaining objective - she is, after all, doing her job - and of a woman increasingly appreciative of the terminal nature of her task and of her own failings and religiosity. The remainder of the drama, last minute appeals etc., works less well and Richard Schiff really doesn't deliver much at all as the convicted man's attorney "Lumetta" - a man who seems to be trying to imbue hope in a man based on wishful thinking and some far-fetched technicalities. Auteur Chinonye Chukwu takes her time with this impassioned story and that's no bad thing at times, allowing us to become a little more immersed in the character of the troubled "Bernadine". At other times, though, the pace really does need a bit of a shake. The whole isn't as good as the sum of the parts, but it's still quite a thought-provoking look at just where responsibility lies in circumstances none of us would ever want to experience.

Judging from the relatively few votes it appears that not many have seen this movie. It is done very well but moves along quite deliberately. It is a fictional story inspired by real people and real events. It is mainly a character study of the warden, a woman, who for some years has been regularly required to preside over the execution of death row inmates after their appeals have run out. She has gotten very clinical about it, in one scene she is questioning the next one scheduled in a couple of days, asking if anyone wants to bury him, or what the prison will do "with the body" almost as if she were talking to someone other than the inmate.

This is an indication of how the psychology of her job has affected her, hardened her, and devolving into a seemingly inability to connect romantically with her husband, a professor. When he suggests they might retire and get different jobs, the change might do them good, she retorts that hers isn't just a job, it is her profession.

The movie also addresses the character of the condemned inmate, 15 years after a crime. What he is going through as his lawyer tries to gain clemency for him, at the same time trying to prepare himself for the execution if it comes to that.

This is a good movie of a difficult story, I am glad that I watched it, at home on DVD from my public library.

I seem to agree with most of the other reviews. The acting was first rate; however it was very slow and the ending left a LOT to be desired.

What turned out to be a promising start, sadly the ending wasn't that satisfying to me. Nevertheless, exceptional performance by the cast, mainly by Aldis Hodge, Alfre Woodard and Alex Castillo. This film literally brought tears to my eyes.

My Review- Clemency My Score 6.5/10

I watched this film only to see the performance of Alfre Woodard who stars as Bernadine Williams. Alfre has just received a Best Actress nomination from the British Academy Film Awards for a very difficult and dramatic role. I have one question was her nomination a race balance decision or was it at the expense of Carey Mulligan in " Promising Young Woman" ? I have my view but admit Alfre Woodward does give a fine performance but I've seen finer this year. The movie Clemency written and directed by Chinoye Chukwa who was inspired to write the film after the widely protested execution of Troy Davis in Georgia in 2011. Her six years of research included running a film programme for inmates in Ohio and advocating for retrials in unsafe cases. It's inconceivable to me as I find the concept of human execution horrific that ten years after Chinoye Chukwa started the project that the Donald Trump in the lead up to leaving The White House could approve 6 executions in one month before the Biden inauguration. This movie is tough to watch especially the beginning snd I think that's why I didn't get any hope from the story or any empathy with the main character Bernadine the Head Warden on Death Row where she "has just being doing her job" after years of carrying out death row executions that now have taken a toll on the emotional life of Bernadine Williams. As she prepares to execute another inmate Anthony Woods played so well by Aldis Hodge. Another good performance also from Richard Schiff as Marty Lumetta who's advocating for clemency for his client Anthony . Another film on the same subject "Mercy" 2019 is far superior to "Clemency " it starred Michael B Jordan and was totally ignored by BAFTA and OSCAR and we all know it's not always the best film or performances that get the accolades. Due to the film's heavy subject matter and sometimes depressing tone, director Chinonye Chukwu made sure to keep the tone on set happy and light, and checked in on actors between takes. I can understand why because Clemency is heavy and depressing in contrast to "Mercy" a true story that did have some very dramatic and hard to watch scenes but left the audience uplifted and hopeful of change . It's very encouraging to read that Civil rights groups are pushing Joe Biden to fulfill promise of ending the death penalty.