Just Mercy (2019)

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Quote

A black man wrongly accused of murder spends six years on death row before a lawyer with the Equal Justice Initiative gets him exonerated.

Trailer:

Release date: 12/25/19

[ElectricBoogaloo]

SAG nomination:
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role - Jamie Foxx

[Dr.OO7]

I saw this Saturday. It was excellent. I found it incredibly moving and thought provoking--I've always had mixed feelings about the death penalty and now even moreso.

Once again, it's great seeing a movie about black people with no White Savior, even though several of the white characters--the convict, the cop, the other lawyer--were decent people.

[Trini]

Free on digital platforms for June:

 

[Spartan Girl]

Watched it today. It was very powerful, I'm just sorry that it took all this for Warner Brothers to put it free on demand.

Walter's story was painful enough, but Herb...poor Herb. Yes, he did blow someone up with a bomb but he had PTSD and probably never would have done what he did had gotten help.

It really rankled me how all the townspeople were proudly touting how they were the "birthplace of To Kill A Mockingbird" while containing to be so blantantly racist.

The scene where Bryan had to strip in front of the guard while visiting the prison really affected me. I love Michael B Jordan and ordinarily would love to see him shirtless, but not like that.

[angora]

9 hours ago, Spartan Girl said:

The scene where Bryan had to strip in front of the guard while visiting the prison really affected me. I love Michael B Jordan and ordinarily would love to see him shirtless, but not like that.

Agreed, that scene was so affecting. The way Bryan is staring so defiantly into the cop's eyes, but then when he gets down to his underwear you can just see the shame filling him? God, Michael B. Jordan was so great in this.

And yes, Herb wrecked me. I was sobbing so hard for him.

Powerful film. Another scene that really hit me is when Bryan is talking to Johnny D.'s friends and family and we see that basically ALL of them could alibi Johnny D. at the time of the murder but the police didn't care.

[jah1986]

Finally saw this, thanks Amazon. Is it right to say I loved it? I thought it was so well done and it was very moving. I broke down when Herb was executed. Seeing Bryan so affected by witnessing the execution (as he should have been) was powerful.  The scene when Johnnie D is brought back to his cell after he is denied a new trial was so sad and powerful.  It was good to know that he was released after a relatively short time, compared to Anthony who would not be released for 30 years.  This is one of those movies that just stays with you. 

[Browncoat]

This was the movie I was meant to see the week everything shut down, and I am so glad I finally got to see it.  I watched last night, and agree that it will stay with me.  As it should.  I was so scared for Bryan when he first moved to Alabama -- at least as scared as his mother was for him.  

All the actors were amazing.  I mean, you kind of expect great things from Jamie Foxx, and even Michael B. Jordan, but *everyone* just knocked it out of the park.  The conflict and sympathy of the young white guard was conveyed perfectly, for example.

Was the prison we saw in the beginning, when Bryan was an intern the same one as later?  I kept wondering what happened to the young prisoner Bryan visited.

[Dr.OO7]

TNT and TBS aired this yesterday. That's the fastest I've seen a movie end up on regular TV after theatrical release.

[Browncoat]

Wow -- were there lots of commercials?  I'm glad it was free to stream, even if I did have to watch on an iPad.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

I finally had a chance to watch this movie on amazon (I know, cutting it really close since it's almost the end of the month). I watched it the same day that I watched Athlete A, which is about a totally different subject (gymnasts being sexually abused by their doctor) but what these two things had in common was how justice being served is really dependent upon humans doing the right thing. When people choose not to do the right thing, innocent people suffer and it's INFURIATING. And in both situations, there were multiple people choosing to ignore the truth because of their own agendas.

Jamie Foxx got the showier part, but I think Michael B. Jordan should have been nominated for this role. He's been doing consistently great work since The Wire.