Just Mercy

This was the opening night film at The 28th Annual Philadelphia Film Festival (Oct 17-28) starring Michael B Jordan, Jamie Foxx and Brie Larson in a supporting role.  It zeros in on one particular case of world-renowned civil rights defense attorney Bryan Stevenson‘s work to free a wrongly condemned death row prisoner.

It’s one of these movies you want to get behind, like CLEMENCY, because you know they are making important statements on society, justice and black life, and they are technically well-done, however, neither movie is very good in terms of enjoyment.  That may sound superficial or trifling, but there are movies like The Accused, Milk, Argo, Selma just to name a few, which tell important stories on the fight for justice, but are also very engaging and cinematic. – LAMB rating: 3 outta 5

That aside,  I do want to draw attention to Bryan Stevenson, the Founder and Executive Director of the Equal Justice Initiative and  the inspiration for “Just Mercy” because he is very interesting and engaging …

Philadelphia Film Society bestowed upon him the inaugural HUMANITARIAN AWARD – to honor Stevenson’s 30 year dedication to his life’s work, exonerating innocent death row prisoners, trying to eliminate excessive and unfair sentencing, confronting abuse of the incarcerated and aiding children prosecuted as adults.

Here’s video of Bryan Stevenson receiving his Award and a Q&A with some of the cast of JUST MERCY: