“Pretty good, ain’t it?”

From Just Mercy.

Desperate to help people, young lawyer Bryan Stephenson (Michael B. Jordan) moves to Alabama in 1989. Bryan begins Equal Justice Initiative which provides free legal counsel for inmates on death row in Alabama. Initially, EJI only has two employees, himself and director of operations, Eva (Brie Larson).  Struggling to find office space to assist the predominantly African-American clients in the Deep South leaves Bryan and Eva to run EJI out of the home of Eva and her husband (Dominic Bogart) while Bryan meets and works with inmates (including Rob Morgan and O’Shea Jackson Jr.).  One inmate that Bryan meets is Walter “Johnny D” McMillian (Jamie Foxx) who was arrested and convicted for the murder of a young white woman named Ronda Morrison.  An African-American family man, Johnny D has been on death row for years, despite his adamant claims that he was innocent.  As Bryan looks into the case he speaks with Johnny D’s family (including Karan Kendrick and C.J. LeBlanc), the new D.A. (Rafe Spall), and the long-serving sheriff (Kirk Bovill) that arrested Johnny D.  The more that Bryan looks into the original case, the more he finds that there are major issues with the case, including the countless alibis from family and friends that spent the day of the murder with him and the fact that the only eyewitness was a fellow convict (Tim Blake Nelson) whose sentence was reduced after he testified.  As Bryan, Eva, and the slowly-growing EJI fight for justice for all their clients, Bryan faces extreme pressure and danger while working to prove Johnny D’s innocence in a county where he was judged guilty just for the color of his skin.

Based on the true story, this drama is filled with tense moments, heart-crushing happenings, and a strong search for justice.  Jordan and Foxx provide captivating performances that embody their characters’ story.  There are some scenes and dialog that will be too intense for young viewers, but most will find the story of this legendary time in history captivating.  Just Mercy is a powerful reminder of the danger of hatred and the strength of the human spirit.

| Rated: PG-13 | Running Time: 137 minutes |Genre: biography/drama |

||Family Viewing||Cursing: 3 of 10|Nudity: 0 of 10|Sexuality: 0 of 10|Gore: 1 of 10

|AVAILABLE FOR HOME VIEWING|