Just Mercy

Director: Destin Daniel Cretton Destin Daniel Cretton

Overview

With numerous opportunities laid down before him right after he graduated from Harvard Law School, Bryan Stevenson's (Michael B. Jordan) career is shaping up to be an impressive one. He, however, decides to forgo all of those offers in order to go to Alabama and represent those who cannot afford a lawyer and those who are wrongly accused. There, he meets Walter McMillian (Jaime Foxx), a man who has been convicted of murder despite the lack of evidence. To obtain justice, he must now navigate a world that is inherently against people like them. Directed by Destin Daniel Cretton.

Product Details

Release Date:	04/14/2020
UPC:	0883929701438
Original Release:	2019
Rating:	PG-13
Source:	Warner Home Video
Region Code:	1
Sound:	[Dolby Digital Stereo, Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround]
Language:	English
Time:	2:17:00
Sales rank:	2,484

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Brie Larson	Eva Ansley
Michael B. Jordan	Bryan Stevenson
Jamie Foxx	Walter McMillian
Rafe Spall	Tommy Champan
Tim Blake Nelson	Ralph Myers
O'Shea Jackson Jr.	Anthony Ray Hinton
Rhoda Griffis	Judge Pamela Bachab
Darrell Britt-Gibson	Darnell Houston
Claire Bronson	Mrs. Chapman
Tonea Stewart	Mrs. Coleman
Drew Scheid	Linus
Karan Kendrick	Minnie McMillian
Lindsay Ayliffe	Judge Foster
John Lacy	Bill
Steve Coulter	Judge Buren
Denitra Isler	Evelyn
Ron Clinton Smith	Woodrow Ikner
Dominic Bogart	Doug Ansley
Jay Devon Johnson	Black Guard
Tim Hooper	Charles Cooper, Office Manager
J. Alphonse Nicholson	Henry Davis
Patti Schellhaas	Courtroom Spectator
Mallory Hoff	Alice Brooks
Kelly Mumme	Stella Taylor
Hayes Mercure	Jeremy
Desmond Phillips	State Officer
Elizabeth Becka	Mrs. Franklin
Andrene Ward-Hammond	Brenda
Matthew Byrge	Officer Williams
Al Mitchell	Uncle Leo
C.J. LeBlanc	John McMillian
Michael Harding	Sheriff Tate
Terence Rosemore	Jimmy
Alex Van	Chamber Guard
Kirk Bovill	David Walker
Pete Burris	Older Man
Jacinte Blankenship	Christy
Ted Huckabee	Bailiff Barnes
Jay D. Kacho	Prominent Monroeville Citizen
Kuntrell Jackson	Interviewee #4,Mason Sheriff Deputy
Ryan Dinning	Young Officer
Marcus A. Griffin Jr.	Charlie
Benjamin Weaver	Courtroom Spectator
Tatom Pender	Tracy
Sandy Givelber	Court Reporter
Amahl Lipkins	Inmate
McDaniel Austin	Inmate
Albert L. Taylor	Death Row Inmate
Josh Royston	Police Officer
Tony Bradley	Prisoner
David Michael-Smith	Deputy Sheriff Barnes
Martell Slater	Prisoner
Matt Markopoulos	Mechanic
Carl Palmer	Older Officer
Roy Luke	Community Leader (uncredited)
Robert Tinsley	Prison Guard (uncredited)
Jeff Coopwood	Prison singer (voice)
Kevin Kedgley	Prison Guard Kay
Mark Dippolito	Voices
Rob Morgan	Herbert Richardson
Stephen Wyatt Nelson	Judge Robert E. Lee Key
Olivia DePaux	Court Reporter
Damon Vance	Prison Guard
Darryl Handy	Bernard
Sebastian Eugene Hansen	Chris
Champ Hollins	Kickball Player
Deadra Moore	Deb
Sean K. Jones	Actor
Todd Layne Thompson	Police Officer
Bill Southworth	Mr. Franklin
Andy Morales	Mysterious Man
Brandon Armstrong	Neighbor
Kate Ash	Townsperson
Matthew DelBene	Male Lawyer #2
Cynthia Q. Minor	Family Member
Kylan Robinson	Young Boy
Leonard Roll	Townsperson
Whitney Howard	Female Lawyer
Noah Hudson Killingbeck	Prison Visitor
Emma Crockett	Townsperson
Jerome Godwin	Kickball Player
Gregg Bernhard	Montgomery County Sheriff
Joel West	Composer

Technical Credits

Destin Daniel Cretton

Andrew Lanham

Bryan Stevenson

Destin Daniel Cretton	Screenwriter,Director
Andrew Lanham	Screenwriter
Bryan Stevenson	Screenwriter,Executive Producer
Scott Budnick	Executive Producer
Mike Drake	Executive Producer
Daniel Hammond	Executive Producer,Executive Producer
Michael Jordan	Producer,Executive Producer
Charles D. King	Executive Producer
Jeff Skoll	Executive Producer
Niija Kuykendall	Executive Producer
Asher Goldstein	Producer
Gil Netter	Producer

Editorial Reviews

In the long lineage of biopics concerning American injustice, Just Mercy is notches above 42 but leagues below Malcolm X. Still, the Destin Daniel Cretton-directed film-which is based on a true story-is relevant and worthwhile. Walter McMillian's (Jamie Foxx) experience on death row as an innocent man is a dreadful account, but one made heroic by the vigorous efforts of attorney Bryan Stevenson (Michael B. Jordan), a recent Harvard Law School graduate. Stevenson's arrival in 1989 Alabama and subsequent fight for McMillan's life are met with ego and bigotry. As he tracks down witnesses and corroborates testimony, he sees that injustice still exists in the South. The persistent pace of Just Mercy makes the enormity of systemic racial injustice seem under tight rein. It's as though the filmmakers channeled the broad scope of director Ava DuVernay's 13th into an alive and personal true story. Foxx proves once again that he's an underrated dramatic actor. Even in his limited, enclosed scenes at the prison and in the courtroom, the caged insanity reverberates even in the quieter moments of suffering. Jordan as the real-life lawyer isn't very trailblazing. As the stock hero type, he jogs through his frustrations and we see the single tear drop down his cheek, but mostly he's consigned to routine speeches. Tim Blake Nelson as Ralph Myers, the prosecution's key witness against McMillian, steals a few scenes with his twitchy, anxious demeanor. The racial injustice faced by McMillian echoes throughout American history, and the film isn't afraid to emphasize it. An early scene shows Stevenson driving up to the prison as black inmates are doing manual labor while a white guard with a shotgun towers over them on a horse. Far from a Rick Grimes stand-in, the image evokes slavery-era plantation power dynamics: the field hands and the white masters. Just Mercy is scathing in its indictment that the treatment of black Americans has not changed one bit. Stevenson, safe in his knowledge of the law and his rights, is still subjected to racist indignity, such as being strip searched at the prison and facing a stop-and-search at gunpoint. The chilling relevance is undoubtable when the sheriff coolly says, "Hey brother, you better be careful with your words if you got a gun at your head." The struggle for equality is front and center. But everything hinges on several moments where white characters need to do the right thing, which indicates the story might be more about our reliance as a society on the passing goodness of white people. The film lacks clarity in this endeavor, however. The scene of the guard being portrayed as the "good guy" to McMillian-even though he's the one who subjected Stevenson to the humiliating strip search-is nauseating to watch. It demonstrates an odd persistence to make terrible white people seem as though they still have integrity. The film navigates these treacherous socio-political waters, while also attempting to engage the audience in the tortuous journey to justice. Beyond the superior acting, Just Mercy doesn't attempt to thrill the audience much with sets, lighting, or even with costuming-without Brie Larson's high-waisted pants and perm, one would hardly know it's set in the early 1990s. However, songs like "Don't Wanna Fight" by Alabama Shakes and "Trouble of the World" by the iconic Mahalia Jackson punctuate emotional scenes impeccably. The song playing over the loudspeaker during a condemned man's execution day is a specific soul punch. Just Mercy is one of those stories that needed to be told, and through a modern perspective, the gritty nuances are there. The film doesn't quite soar, but it sits on a sturdy foundation.