OP_032620

20 | March 26, 2020 | the orland Park Prairie life & Arts
OPPrairiedaily.com
‘Just Mercy’ elevates courtroom drama with equality cause, superb cast
Bill Jones, Editor
There is a Hallmark
version of “Just Mercy”
that exists in an alternate
universe. It has all of the
melodramatic scenes you
would expect. And it is rife
with bombastic anger —
the over-the-top righteous
indignation — its story
seemingly demands.
Were it not for the steady
work of director Destin
Daniel Cretton, that might
be the universe in which
we find ourselves living.
But with understated yet
affecting performances by
Michael B. Jordan, Jamie
Foxx and Brie Larson,
and Cretton in the director’s
chair, “Just Mercy”
knows that its true story is
compelling enough to engage
viewers and its message
might be better heard
for its hushed tone than if
shouted from the rooftops.
MPAA Rating: PG-13 | Genres: Biography, Crime, Drama | Running Time: 137 minutes
Make no mistake: “Just
Mercy” is a film about
advocacy. It is a film that
seeks to right injustices,
and not just the historical
ones documented by Jordan’s
portrayal of Bryan
Stevenson, of the Equal
Justice Initiative.
Foxx plays Walter Mc-
Millian, a black man who
in the 1980s was wrongly
convicted of the murder
of a young white woman
in Alabama. The lack of
evidence, the questionable
circumstances of his
arrest, a coaxed witness
statement and more are all
enough to show the average
person he likely did
not commit the crime. But
some folks in Monroeville
were all too happy to see
someone held responsible
— in the capital punishment
sense — who fit their
image of a killer, and the
courts all too willing to
believe an asinine police
narrative working against
McMillian.
Enter Stevenson, a recent
Harvard graduate
and lawyer with a grant to
help find justice for those
on death row in the South
who did not receive proper
representation the first
time around. He teams up
with Eva Ansley (Larson)
to set up shop in the area
and takes on a cluster of
cases, including McMillian’s,
much to the chagrin
of the local Sheriff Tom
Tate (Michael Harding)
and prosecutor Tommy
Chapman (Rafe Spall).
From there, “Just Mercy”
shows us the hurdles
they face in what should
be an open-and-closed
case of righting a wrong. It
tells a tale of two communities
at odds, and one with
the clear advantage in that
dynamic. And it highlights
the irony of a community
that prizes its Harper Lee
fiction while also complicit
in systemic injustice.
And though it is, first
and foremost, a story
about shedding light on a
long history of black people
being treated unfairly
by a criminal justice system
largely overseen by
white folks, “Just Mercy”
also serves as a blueprint
of how to be a good ally.
Ansley is a secondary figure
in the film, and in her
role she helps Stevenson
navigate the hostile waters
of the region. Ralph Myers
(Tim Blake Nelson) tries
to right his old wrong of
false testimony when he
realizes what he has done
to McMillian and his family.
And even Chapman has
a moment of redemption.
Their actions help
change the tide in the battle
for real justice, but as is
the case it often comes at
some expense to their own
well-being. Their actions
take courage, too, as going
against the grain to do the
right thing often does.
But Cretton keeps Jordan
and Foxx at the forefront
of “Just Mercy.”
Foxx makes it impossible
not to care about what
you’re seeing. And Jordan
— in one of his best roles
to date — makes sure Stevenson
is seen as the hero
he deserves to be. And
the restraint shown to the
drama keeps the truth front
and center. The real story
is enough.
As with most good historical
pieces, “Just Mercy”
is one that still resonates.
And it could be too
much to bear in the mirror
it holds up to injustices
that still exist. It could
spark righteous indignation.
Instead, Cretton gives
us a blueprint. He provides
hope that as long as good
people are fighting for
the truth, progress can be
made.
Have you seen a movie
recently and want to let
everyone know about it? The
Orland Park Prairie is looking
for residents to review
the latest new releases for its
Unscripted feature. The best
reviews will be published
in The Prairie and online
at OPPrairie.com. Keep
reviews around 400 words
or fewer and try not to give
away the key moments of the
movie. Submit your review to
bill@opprairie.com. Please
include your name and phone
number in the email.
We Got Games
‘Pong’ meets RPG in ‘Hypergalactic Psychic Table Tennis 3000’
Bill Jones, Editor
“Hypergalactic Psychic
Table Tennis 3000” — or
HPTT3K, as soon as you
get tired of repeating that
name — is simple in both
concept an execution.
Take the basic “Pong”
table tennis formula that
has been around since the
advent of video games
and modify it with roleplaying
game elements.
In execution, that means
starting with a plain white
paddle and playing a game
of first-to-3. After winning
a match, though, the
player is presented with
options for upgrades. And
this happens round after
round, with choices such
as extending the height or
girth of the paddle, and increasing
movement speed
at the core.
But where things start
to get really interesting
are the upgrades such as
the ability to throw fireballs,
cast freeze spells,
send toxic clouds the
way of an opponent and
slow down time The
paddle itself also has a
health bar that can be upgraded,
replenished and
so forth.
What it all adds is a leveled-up
complexity to an
otherwise simple game.
The courts also change,
with bumpers, wormholes
and hazards — some of
which negate particular
attacks — among the
variations. And the enemy
paddles change level to
level, from big, fat and
slow to tiny and quick as
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a hiccup. Some cast spells
of their own, too.
All of this means the
player has to approach
each round with a slightly
different game plan, and
the balance of upgrades
along the way becomes
increasingly important.
Split-second strategies
have to be developed,
maybe choosing to take
a final blow and start the
next point with a fresh
health bar, combining attacks
to score on a wily
enemy or knowing when
giving up a point might be
the better option than taking
a certain hit.
The graphics of
HPTT3K are simple. So
is its sometimes juvenile
sense of humor. And I
stopped reading many of
the enemy descriptions
and between-level transitional
texts early in the
game, finding myself less
interested in the lore and
more in pressing on with
the next round.
But for $1.99 on Steam,
HPTT3K offers plenty of
fun. It is a great combination
of accessibility and
increasing complexity as
it progresses — especially
for folks sitting around
at home at the moment,
looking for worthwhile
diversions.
Have you played a video
game recently and want to
let everyone know about it?
The Orland Park Prairie is
looking for residents to review
the latest new releases
for its We Got Games feature.
The best reviews will
be published in The Prairie
and online at OPPrairie.
com. Keep reviews around
400 words or fewer and try
not to give away the key moments
of the game. Submit
your review to bill@opprairie.com.
Please include your
name and phone number in
the email.