We All Must Have 'Mercy'

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In Writer and Director Destin Daniel Cretton’s “Just Mercy” the impassioned Michael B. Jordan as attorney Bryan Stevenson reminds the Alabama Court Jury, “We all need grace. We all need mercy…” There’s profound wisdom and compassion in Bryan’s words. The screenplay by Destin and Andrew Lawrence was based on Bryan Stevenson’s book “Just Mercy”. So this represents part of our history.

In 1991, Bryan defends Walter McMillian, brilliantly played by Jamie Foxx, convicted of murdering the 18 year-old white woman in a liquor store, sentenced to death by the electric chair. Walter is innocent. He was with his family at the time of the murder. Given the coerced testimony of the lifelong criminal Ralph Myers, played by sympathetically damaged Tim Blake Nelson, Walter is placed on Death Row, even before he’s charged. WTF?

Turns out that Walter had an affair a couple years ago with a white woman. His wife Minnie, played by strong Karan Kendrick, had forgiven for his transgressions. Apparently, not the Alabama Police. So basically, Walter is the innocent man sentenced to die, because he’s Black. That was 1991. That’s 30 years ago, not that long ago. That’s the relevant poignancy of Destin’s “Just Mercy”. Through the powerful and compassionate work of Michael B. and Jamie, we get that “We all need mercy.” Perhaps, now in 2020 more than ever before.

As a law intern in Alabama, Michael B.’s Ryan worked with a Death Row inmate, who was as old as him. The young Black man was so grateful that his stay of execution extended for a year. He’s essentially a kid. That lands with Ryan. That lands with us.

After graduating from Harvard Law School and passing the Bar, Ryan accepts the position in Alabama as a public defender providing legal service for those in need, which is primarily a lot of poor African Americans. Ryan works for idealist office manager Eva Ansley, played by fiery smart Brie Larson. They start the Equal Justice Initiative.

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Ryan meets with Jamie’s Walter in prison, offering to appeal his case. Upfront Walter tells naïve Ryan, “Down here you’re guilty from the moment you’re born.” Ryan gets that sad indictment given his own experience of racial prejudice.

That arcane mindset even threatens Eva’s family. In the quiet, Eva tells Ryan that she wants her little boy to know that she wasn’t going to back down “just because she was scared of some bigot.” That might be the heart and soul of “Just Mercy”. There’s nobility in acting out of justice and mercy.

The very soul of “Just Mercy” is the profound screen partnership of Michael B. Jordan and Jamie Fox. I love Michael B. He possesses power in his words, in his silence. He has the amazing gift of letting us know what goes on inside through his gaze. We get it when he witnesses the electrocution of one of his clients. His closing court room speech expresses his and our very own humanity. Michael B. is something special.

So is Jamie Foxx in the supporting role of Walter. Foxx embodies the authentic suffering and nobility in Walter. It’s heartbreaking watching Walter ask his son John to stand down in court, fearing for his safety. His eloquent power reveals as he weeps in his jail cell. It’s a shame Jamie wasn’t nominated for a Best Supporting Actor Oscar.

All that being said, Destin, Michael B., and Jamie ask us to look at ourselves: Do we have mercy? Do we have grace? Yeah, at times Destin and Andrew’s narrative is very linear. That might be the effect of retelling history. Still, “Just Mercy” too is something special in that it makes us look at our own humanity. It asks, “How can I make a difference?” That might have been the authentic spirit of Ryan Stevenson. A very noble and good thing. Just saying.

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This post was previously published on IMDb and is republished here with the author’s permission.