La Voie de la justice

I saw "Just Mercy" a few days ago at the Philadelphia Film Festival and was blown away by the film....and I consider it to be one of the best movies I've seen in recent years. I could easily see the picture receiving several Oscar nominations---especially for acting. Imagine my suprise when I looked on IMDB and saw a score of 5.6 and some negative reviews! I am not exactly sure what this is all about and perhaps it's because there are some angry pro-capital punishment folks or some who simply hate a film with a mostly black cast. All I know is that the film is a quality production and kept my interest throughout.

The story is based on the work of Bryan Stevenson, a Harvard graduate who chose to move to Alabama and work for a small salary to help examine the convictions of men on death row...men who in some cases were not guilty at all. How could anyone NOT applaud this sort of thing?!

Overall, a brilliantly written film that made me sad and angry....and I love when a film effects me that way. The acting was top-notch, the story magnificent and the writing amazing. Just ignore all the negativity and see this one....you'll be happy you did. As for me, I'd consider this perhaps the best American film of the decade...it's THAT good.

It highlights the shocking social injustice that some people receives. I am glad that there are people fighting for them, The story is emotional and very gripping. It brings me to tears!

Just Mercy is a biographical legal drama co-written and directed by Destin Daniel Cretton. The film is based on Stevenson's 2014 eponymous memoir, in which he explored his journey to making his life's work the defense of African American prisoners. Michael B. Jordan plays Bryan Stevenson with Jamie Foxx joining him as Walter McMillian. The supporting cast has well known actors like Rob Morgan, Tim Blake Nelson, Rafe Spall, Brie Larson, Rafe Spall and O'Shea Jackson Jr. Jamie Foxx was nominated for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role at the 26th Screen Actors Guild Awards. Both he and Michael B. Jordan won NAACP Image Awards for their respective roles. Both of them brought brilliant performances and did the people and the true story justice.

Just Mercy is about the world-renowned civil rights defense attorney Bryan Stevenson who works to free wrongly condemned death row prisoners, among these is Walter "Johnny D." McMillian, an African-American man who was convicted of the 1986 murder of Ronda Morrison, an 18 year old white girl.

That's what Just Mercy is about and it's overall a great film, but most importantly an important story that was needed to be told. I also think the film is well shot and Destin Daniel Cretton's direction is excellent. The characters are distinct from each other and the actors playing them does an excellent job, mannerisms and accents, list goes on in how great they're. Strong dialogue to well written characters, just how it should be. But though the narrative and acting is great and often very memorable, the length is too long and the plot predictable and not as compelling as I had initially thought. But the message it's telling justifies the flaws, overall, Just Mercy is an amazing movie that needs to be seen at least once. I think it had the potential to be greater than it ended up being.

I was born and raised in Alabama. I left the state in 1966 for the Army and Vietnam. The facts of this true story sicken me, they embarrass me and they anger me.

Whether it's Walter McMillian in the 1990's Alabama or General Michael Flynn today, miscarriages of Justice and the blatant abuse of power have no place in a civilized society. Perhaps this film will make this clear to those who have difficulty grasping that simple concept.

I enjoyed the movie and have no problems whatsoever with regards to being entertained while discovering a notable take on recent misjudgments from the history of the Deep South.

There is nothing substandard here. Proper screenwriting, fine acting, fairly delivered social commentary.

But also, there is nothing new. Every single aspect of this film had already made its way into cinema, and with even sharper tones. To Kill A Mockingbird (which is cited many times in the movie itself) aside, we got The Green Mile as an unforgettable fiction on racism-infused violations of lives and the horros of murder-by-state, a.k.a. Capital punishment. We saw Dead Man Walking, we saw Monsters' Ball. We not only know well the pillars on which this film was erected, but we also literally witnessed cinematic greatness thanks to several scenes that covered the transformations of people who in one way or another took part in or witnessed prison executions.

I'm not arguing that this story was not worth being told on the screen. What I don't get is why they shot it almost like a high quality TV movie, and never bothered come up with edgier moments.

I have this gut feeling that, those who are impressed by this movie have missed out on almost a dozen high-caliber, tough-to-swallow, groundbraking movies from the past decades.

Not a 6, not an 8, a solid and straight 7. That's it.