Jamie Foxx gives an amazing performance in a powerful and important movie, says our movie guy, James Finnegan…
ONE of my all-time favourite films – and books – is “To Kill a Mockingbird”.
The story of how lawyer, Atticus Finch, defends a black man wrongly accused and convicted of raping a white woman is fictional, but based on real events and observations from Harper Lee’s childhood, and takes place in and around Monroeville, Alabama.
The events of ‘Just Mercy’ also take place in the same area, where Mockingbird is celebrated, but where its lessons and themes are seemingly ignored.
Continued below…
‘Just Mercy’ is based on the life and work of real life lawyer Bryan Stevenson, played by Michael B. Jordan, and his work setting up the equal Justice Initiative, a non-profit organisation that provides legal representation to people wrongly convicted based on racial factors and inequality, rather than facts and due process.
One of his first clients is Walter “Johnny D” McMillian, played by Jamie Foxx, who is wrongly convicted of killing white woman Ronda Morrison, mainly on the testimony of another convicted felon Ralph Myers whose evidence was given pending his own trial.
Appeals for a review of the case based on new evidence and examination of the original trial are stymied at every local law enforcement level, and Stevenson is forced to use different methods to bring this case to a wider public attention and eventually the Supreme Court of Alabama.
This is far more than your usual courtroom drama and is well worth your time to watch. Michael B. Jordan gives an excellent performance as Stevenson, but his additional work as Producer to help bring this film together and the story to a world audience should also be acknowledged.
I look forward to seeing future productions from this company. Jamie Foxx gives one of his best ever performances, perhaps his best since his Oscar Winning portrayal of Ray Charles in “Ray”.
Supporting roles are well played by Brie Larson, Rafi Spall, Rob Morgan and especially Tim Blake Nelson as Myers.
This is a film that allows the facts and events tell the story. It is so powerful that the usual “Hollywood” dramatic augmentation is not required to give it impact and relevance.
I would also strongly urge you to stay through the credits, not for a Marvel showcase way, but for the update on the characters’ lives that give you some idea of the scale and range of the injustices visited upon innocent victims and indirectly on the victims of the original crimes, whose perpetrators remain free for both Justice and the Law which are not necessarily the same thing. Enjoy.