Just Mercy * * * *

         This is one of the best legal dramas I have seen in some time. It's a true story too, which makes it all the more inspiring.
         Set in the nineties in the State of Alabama it's about a brave young graduate from Harvard Law School, Bryan Stevenson.  He responds to a legal position that is available with a start-up organisation for those who are on death row.  What is alarming is the amount of convicts Stevenson discovers who have been condemned on the flimsiest of evidence.

Oh oh, Alabama....

         The story primarily focuses on his work in having one particular prisoners sentence overturned.  An African-American himself, Stevenson is constantly facing condescension and prejudice.
          As this fascinating tight drama unfolded I was all set to give it a five star rating but it does get a little bit hurriedly time warped toward the three quarter mark.
       Nevertheless, overall it's a disciplined drama in that it only focuses on the main story. With Brie Larson playing the woman who runs the Equal Justice Initiative, which is where Stevenson works from, it could have gone to other places, but thankfully it doesn't.  No romance or other distractions here. Great story, great script, great acting, and film making.
     Amazingly this true story took place in Monroeville Alabama, home of Harper Lee and "To Kill a Mockingbird" fame.