Just Mercy

Simply stated, some human beings are better than others. It's true. Compare real-life attorney Bryan Stevenson to the average American.

To me, for example.

• Harvard-educated attorney Stevenson chose a career defending citizens vulnerable to a biased legal system. 

• I spend most Monday, Wednesday, and Friday afternoons reading comic books. 

• Over a 25 year period, Stevenson's Equal Justice Initiative saved more than 116 men from the death penalty. 

• During that same quarter century, I've laughed at five different hosts of America's Funniest Home Videos. 

• Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption, authored by Stevenson, won the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Nonfiction.

• My blogpost, "Whatever Happened to Bowzer from Sha Na Na," has been read nearly 5,000 times. 

See?

Just Mercy is a good movie, I suppose. Michael B. Jordan and Jamie Fox are fine, although two dimensional, as Stevenson and his client, "Johnny D" McMillian.  Brie Larson is forgettable as Eva Ansley. Tim Blake Nelson -- as is often the case -- steals the film in a supporting role as angst-ridden inmate Ralph Myers. 

Nelson should have been on all the "best supporting actor nominee" lists for this role. 

Although it's an OK movie, Just Mercy can't fully illustrate all the good Bryan Stevenson has delivered in his career. It's my hope the movie inspires people to read more about him.

He's an American hero.