Just Mercy

First Hit: A compelling and moving story about overturning injustice.

This movie is based on the true-life story of Bryan Stevenson (Michael B. Jordan), who, after finishing law school at Harvard, moved to the deep south to help death-row prisoners in Alabama.

Although he was offered prestigious positions in other law firms, his mind was made up while during an internship, he interviewed death-row prisoners. He is deeply touched by these prisoner's stories and, after reviewing their files, learned that many of these men were unjustly accused and incarcerated.

Upon graduating from Harvard and passing the Alabama Bar, he moved to and opened a federally funded group to represent prisoners on death row. Arriving at their new offices, he is informed that he and his office manager Eva Ansley (Brie Larson), wouldn’t be able to rent the offices because of the type of work they were doing. Holing up in Eva and her husband’s home, they begin their quest to represent wrongfully convicted death-row inmates. The three touched upon in this film were different types of cases.

One of the stories is about Herbert Richardson (Rob Morgan), who was convicted of killing someone by a bomb he planted on the front porch of a house. Yes, he made the bomb, but what wasn’t taken into consideration was that Richardson had PTSD from his time in Vietnam and had struggled by being in and out of mental health facilities for over 30 years. His story is wonderfully mixed into the overall film by following his appeal process and subsequent death by electrocution. The latter is such a powerful scene, that it had our entire Saturday afternoon audience audibly crying.

The main story is about Walter McMillian (Jamie Foxx), a man convicted of killing a young 18-year-old girl. The fact was that at the time of the victim’s death, he was surrounded by his entire family preparing food for a local fish fry. The testimony that got him incarcerated was given by Ralph Myers (Tim Blake Nelson), who was a convicted felon that made up the story to get off of death row. In other words, he made a deal to lie for the local police and DA so that he would have a more comfortable life in prison.

The storyline follows how Stevenson and Ansley, jump through enormous hoops put forth by the Alabama criminal justice system, to let the truth be known. The resistance was there in order to keep the criminal justice system from having to say it was criminally wrong and did not hand out justice to everyone equally under the law.

The film does a great job of mining the stories of the key players and how they ended up where they are. It also points out the discriminatory nature of many people and areas that still exist in the South.

This is a moving film, and I know that anyone seeing it will be impacted by the excellent acting and story behind the characters. The scene where Richarson is put to death is so powerfully well done even though you never see the actual execution. You’d be hard-pressed to not be affected by this scene.

Jordan was terrific as Stevenson. He plays this character with kindness and driven compassion which is outwardly kept under wraps. Larson is lovely as a mother and woman who is driven to do the right thing regardless of the impact on her family. Foxx was sublime. I loved the way he slowly let his guard down with Stevenson as time passed. It’s a powerful performance. Nelson, as Myers was terrific. His critical role in the story was only outshone by his ability to draw the audience into his persona and how he got to be the person he was. You cannot take your eyes off him when he’s on the screen. Morgan was phenomenal. I loved his character and maybe because I am also a Vietnam Veteran. I’ve met numerous street people who are vets that got lost along the way. His story touched me deeply. Destin Daniel Cretton and Andrew Lanham wrote an outstanding script and dug in where it needed to. Cretton got incredible performances from the entire cast and needs to be commended for bringing this subject to film.

Overall: A film worth seeing as the story it tells helps us learn who we are and what we need to change.

The Glass Castle

First Hit:  I cannot conceive of having a life like the one described in this film.

This is the story of how Jeannette Walls (Brie Larson, Ella Anderson, and Chandler Head) survived her upbringing by Rex (Woody Harrelson), an alcoholic father, and Rose Mary (Naomi Watts), an unconventional artist mother, to find her own truth and path through life.

Jeannette, her two sisters Lori (Sarah Snook, Sadie Sink, and Olivia Kate Rice), Maureen (Brigette Lundy-Paine, Shree Crooks, and Eden Grace Redfield), and brother Brian (Josh Caras, Charlie Shotwell, and Iain Armitage), never had much of a home as their father and mother spent all their time running from place to place. This dysfunctional family headed by two non-conformists had great dreams and never could put any of them into place.

“Glass Castle” refers to the all glass home Rex designed and never built. This one of thousands of ideas he had for his family. During non-drunk and lucid moments Rex could be an amazing father and mentor. I especially loved how he gave each of the kids the belief that they could pick a star as their own exclusive birthday present.

However when he was drunk or in a bipolar raging state, he was awful to everyone. Rose Mary did her best to temper his expressive raging, however she was an enabler of both the violent and homeless behavior.

After a failed attempt by Rex to get clean and hold a job, the children decided to raise themselves while staying clear of their parents' behavioral issues. This bond between the children was amazing and in the last scene of the film, a Thanksgiving dinner, it was clearly expressed.

I liked the way the scenes shifted from present day back to when the kids were growing up. The actors they chose to play the younger versions of the children were great.

Because the film rarely answered how and when did the family get food and clothing, I kept wondering about these primary subjects throughout the movie.

Harrelson is excellent as the bi-polar father who is an alcoholic, smart, and loved his "goat" Jeanette. His fits of rage as well as his lucid kind moments were well done. Watts is interesting as the mother. I struggled to buy her performance as being solid. At times she seemed disengaged from both the character and from the film. However, it could have been meant this way as well. Larson is very good as the grown daughter with a huge resistance to fully embrace her past. When she finally embraces her past, the shift in her character was perfectly done. Ella Anderson and Chandler Head were great as the younger Jeannette. Sarah Snook, Sadie Sink and Olivia Kate Rice, as Jeannette's older sister Lori, were wonderful. Brigette Lundy-Paine, Shree Crooks and Eden Grace Redfield as Maureen, Jeannettes' younger sister, were perfect. Finally, brother Brian as played by Josh Caras, Charlie Shotwell, and Iain Armitage; all were excellent and very engaging. Destin Daniel Cretton and Andrew Lanham wrote a strong script from Jeannette Wall’s own book and story. Cretton's direction did a good job of taking us through Jeanette’s story.

Overall:  This was an amazing story of persevering through a chaotic childhood.