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FREE FILM SCREENING: Just Mercy (2020)
June 30, 2021 @ 7:15 pm - 9:15 pm
Our first film season of 2021 comes to an end with this inspiring delve into the injustices and iniquities of the legal system in the US.
Dir: Destin Daniel Cretton
Stars: Michael B. Jordan, Jamie Foxx, Brie Larson
Run Time: 137mins
Country: US
Cert: 12
Following on from some of the events of 2020 this legal drama / biopic about the work of civil rights defence lawyer Bryan Stevenson takes on a whole new level of importance. Hollywood’s rising young star Michael B. Jordan (Creed, Black Panther) gives a performance of real integrity and moral conviction as Stevenson, a Harvard graduate turned civil rights lawyer, who founds the Equal Justice Initiative along with Eva Ansley (Brie Larson).
After a visit to Alabama demonstrates to Stevenson that some death row inmates may in fact be victims of miscarriages of justice and are unable to afford decent legal representation, the EJI sets out to prove that they can push back against this institutionalised inequality. The first case that Stevenson and Ansley try to overturn is that of Walter “Johnny D.” McMillian (a fantastic performance from Jamie Foxx) convicted of the murder of a white woman in 1986. Before too long the duo are at loggerheads with a legal and police system that demonstrates a horrendous degree of racial bias.
Destin Daniel Cretton’s superb third feature (after the GCPH screened Short Term 12 and The Glass Castle all of which have starred Brie Larson), got a short theatrical run in the UK just before Covid hit. It’s a straightforward legal drama about a very important life and story, elevated by uniformly brilliant performances from a strong cast.
BOOK: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/gcph-screening-just-mercy-tickets-155647998353
NOTE: Features a scene of execution, racist language and scenes of threat.