Just Mercy is a 2019 drama brought to us by director Destin Daniel Cretton. It is a movie that is based on a true story that took place in the late 80s and early 90s. It features a fantastic cast, lots of great performances and it was a movie that had me hooked from the time it started all the way until the credits rolled.
How to Stream or Download Just Mercy
To stream or to download the movie from a digital store of your choice, click on the Download button at the end of this review.
The Movie Review
I have to start by talking about the cast. Michael B. Jordan just gets better and better in everything I see him in. His role here as lawyer Bryan Stevenson could very well be his best performance to date! Jamie Foxx plays the wrongly incarcerated Walter McMillan, and he gives a very quiet and captivating performance of a man who has had his life basically stolen away from him.
The rest of the cast features such talent as Brie Larson, O’Shea Jackson Jr, and Tim Blake Nelson to name just a few. This is one of those rare movies where every actor plays their role perfectly. It is such a great story and a story that makes you mad and makes you want to do more to help people.
The plot has lawyer, Bryan Stevenson moving to Alabama to help those who are too poor to afford proper legal representation. Stevenson winds up getting involved with Walter McMillan who is on death row for a murder that happened in 1986. As he reviews the case, he finds hole after hole in it and vows to help McMillan get the freedom, he has had stolen away from him.
For a legal drama, there is not a great deal of shouting in this movie. It is a very reserved movie (for the most part) and that makes it hit home even more. Some of the stuff you hear is brutal and it makes you mad that people like this not only exist, but they have a lot of power and that they are able to do this to people.
I will admit that I was ignorant of this case before I watched this movie, but it made me fascinated by it all, and from what I have read they followed it as closely as they could. At the end of the day, it is a movie, so somethings had to be changed to make it more dramatic, but from the start to the end I found this to be a compelling story.
Just Mercy is a movie that grabs you from the start and does not let go, even after the credits have rolled, this is a story that sticks with you for a while. The acting is just incredible and the whole movie zooms by as it is so interesting and engaging. This is a movie that is very easy to recommend and make sure you are giving it all your attention and not messing on your phone or anything else as you watch it!
