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| Michael B. Jordan and Jamie Foxx in Just Mercy. Image courtesy Warner Bros. |
One of the worst things a film can try
to be is powerful. Films can convey a lot of weight and impact on the
viewer through acting, writing, and message because the filmmakers
driving it have something of import to say. But a powerful film
should be naturally so, delivering messages of great import through
the craft. For films like Just Mercy, the attempt at gravitas
comes across as trying too hard and results in a film that is more
didactic than memorable.
Like most films of its ilk, Just
Mercy is based on the true story of Bryan Stevenson (played by
Michael B. Jordan), an idealistic Harvard attorney who dedicates his
life to helping prisoners in need. Assisted by the tenacious Eva
Ansley (Brie Larson), Stevenson picks up the case of inmate Walter
McMillian (Jamie Foxx), who is on death row solely due to the
testimony of erratic witness Ralph Myers (Tim Blake Nelson).
Stevenson spends years fighting against a corrupt system spearheaded
by a spineless DA (Rafe Spall) to save McMillian from
state-instituted death.
Just Mercy never lives up to the
sum of its parts. The talent is there and Jordan, Fox, Larson, and
Nelson all do good work in their respective roles. Stevenson's story
is almost too perfect to craft a fine courtroom drama reminiscent of
The Verdict. Yet the film doesn't dive into the material with
nuance or an eye for dissecting the depth of the issues that cause a
Walter McMillian to be put on death row with little evidence. Just
Mercy thrives above the surface, giving the audience something to
feel good about without challenging preconceived notions. Everything
about the film is too easy and too direct; the line between evil men
and the good folks contains no room for grey. The audience isn't
granted room to consider the roots of the racism that drives the
villains or the virtue of its central character, and without that
room for ambiguity the film lacks the teeth it needs.
The actual horror about what happened
to McMillian happens in the procedures director Destin Daniel Cretton
and his co-writer Andrew Lanham don't choose to explore.
Institutional racism is dangerous because it his hidden within
minutiae constituting the law. Racists are terrible people worthy of
condemnation, but they get away with their racism because the law
both protects and supports their view. Just Mercy focuses on
the individuals with barely a glance at the system that enables them.
Viewers should be bothered by this topic because of its subtlety and
how easily it pervades society. Saying racism is bad like Just
Mercy does is an easy win; pushing into a person's biases is far
more challenging and much more rewarding if done well.
Films like Just Mercy can at
least be watchable with the premise and the cast it has in tow and
can be more so with good writing. Cretton and Lanham miss heavily on
the writing though, in particular when it comes to their central
characters. Despite the talent on hand, none of the performers are
provided a character to play. Each person is a collection of speeches
designed to make the audience either nod in agreement or hiss in
anger, sort of like a wrestling match about racism. Building the film
around multiple speeches provides the important veneer of power
Cretton and Lanham strive for, but at the expense of legitimate
character growth and storytelling. Nobody really grows or changes in
the film; they start off with an important speech and end with a
similar important speech with the journey in between not actually
mattering. Stevenson in particular is granted little change; he
starts the film as idealistic and angelic and ends the film in the
same state. His main flaw is youth, which he overcomes by getting
older. I can guess the reason for this view of Stevenson is due to
the real-life Stevenson serving as a producer and writing the source
material, which explains why a biographical film leans heavily toward
the hagiography. (That Just Mercy gives him the cinematic
equivalent of a halo in the third act is a little much). It's
difficult to succeed with an overly perfect lead character, which is
apropos for a film like Just Mercy that tries far too hard and
falls short because of it.
Review:
Two and a half out of Five Stars
Click
here
to see the trailer.
Rating:
PG-13
Run
time: 136 minutes
Genre:
Drama
tl;dr
What
Worked: Cast
What
Fell Short: Characterization,
Dialog, Depth
What
To Watch Instead:
The
Verdict, Fruitvale Station
