‘Just Mercy’ review – A potent argument against the death penalty

Just Mercy provides a potent argument for abolishing the death sentence in America.

It is a finely honed true-life drama that remains fresh, urgent and timely – and it hits you where you live.

With superb performances from its key players, Destin Cretton’s production wastes little time in getting to the meat of the matter.

In his judicious hands, both as director and co-writer, he glaringly illuminates the erratic workings of the law and how journalism can play a vital role in bringing some burning issues to light.

Michael B Jordan in ‘Just Mercy’. Picture: Warner Bros

The two main players are a young, idealistic lawyer, Bryan Stevenson (Michael B Jordan), and his history-making battle for justice for those on death row in the southern state of Alabama.

After graduating from Harvard, Stevenson could have worked for any of America’s many illustrious law firms.

Instead, he chose a path that resonated deep within; defending those wrongly condemned or who were not afforded proper representation during their trials.

With the unstinting support of a local advocate, Eva Ansley (Brie Larson), Stevenson took on his first incendiary case.

Brie Larson in ‘Just Mercy’. Picture: Warner Bros

An African American, Walter “Johnnie D” McMillian (Jamie Foxx), was sentenced in 1987 to die for the notorious murder of an 18-year white girl.

Despite a preponderance of evidence proving his innocence and the fact that the only testimony against him came from a criminal named Ralph Myers (Tim Blake Nelson) with a motive to lie, the law ignored all this.

In the years that followed, Stevenson became embroiled in a labyrinth of legal and political manoeuvrings while facing overt and unabashed racism in his stoic fight to save the man and many others like him.

At the time, he set up an organisation, Equal Justice Initiative, in Montgomery, Alabama, which fought for the rights of death row inmates who had been wrongly convicted of crimes – and it still exists.

Jamie Foxx and Michael B Jordan in ‘Just Mercy’. Picture: Warner Bros

Just Mercy is an emotive. thought-provoking piece of cinema, a narrative vividly conveyed through detailed analysis of a seriously flawed system.

The film, based on the Bryan Stevenson book, is an honest and often heartbreaking study of the modern American justice system – and where it sometimes fails.

Info

Rating: ★★★★☆
Cast: Michael B Jordan, Jamie Foxx, Brie Larson, Tim Blake Nelson, Rob Morgan, Rafe Spall
Director: Destin Cretton
Classification: 13 LVP

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