dir. Destin Daniel Cretton. On the surface, a straight forward legal drama, based on the infuriating true story of a man falsely accused of murder, by a small town racist sheriff. The nuanced and realistic performances of the Michael B. Jordan as the young lawyer, and Jamie Foxx as the wronged man are spot on. I enjoyed Jordan’s naturalistic lawyerly style very much, his justified fear at the local racist bully cops, his near despair at a particular case, and restrained joy at his wins are all believable and honest. He’s not a 90s Tom Cruise style lawyer who slams the table at every loss, and pumps his fist with a manic grin at every win. It’s also largely a movie that will make you angry at the fact that capital punishment is still a thing. Even after the movie, you realize that innocent people are still being murdered by many different nations. Tim Blake Nelson is brilliant and tragic. Over two hours, but it flew by for me.
Just Mercy (2019)
A Single Paragraph 