Time September 16, 2019JUST MERCY: WARNER BROS.; MCMILLIAN AND STEVENSON: COURTESY EQUAL JUSTICE INITIATIVE; WASHINGTON, COOGLER, JAMES: GETTY IMAGES
yet—though Just Mercy’s heroism is expressed
through the filing of legal briefs, not heart- pounding
action sequences—it’s a continuation of themes that
Jordan has worked with before: humanizing the mis-
understood and shining a spotlight on inequality. It’s
why Stevenson trusted Jordan with his story. “Films
don’t always carry the message of a book in an au-
thentic way, and that was my anxiety,” Stevenson
says. “But I felt like he was sensitive to more chal-
lenging stories of life in America.” While Jordan says
he didn’t previously have a firm opinion on the death
penalty, as a black man in America—and one whose
father was active in the Black Panther Party and
whose uncle was in the Nation of Islam—he under-
stands how issues like mass incarceration and unjust
criminalization affect people. “Bryan dedicated his
life to criminal-justice reform,” he says. “I wanted to
get behind that story.”
That’s why Jordan might be our next and last
great movie star: he has the box-office bona fides
and the leading-man good looks, but his movies, for
the most part, all say something, even the popcorn
flicks. In a moment when it’s nearly impossible toFALL ARTS PREVIEW FILM
to his next film, Just Mercy, an adaptation of Bryan
Stevenson’s best-selling memoir, in which Jordan
stars as the activist lawyer. Directed by Destin Dan-
iel Cretton, the movie chronicles the early days of
Stevenson’s Equal Justice Initiative, as he defended
wrongfully incarcerated death-row inmates. Just
Mercy premieres at the Toronto International Film
Festival on Sept. 6 before hitting theaters in Decem-
ber in the thick of awards season. The film, which
Jordan also produced, reveals the ways in which law
enforcement and the judicial system unfairly target
and punish people of color, as brought to life by the
true story of Walter McMillian (Jamie Foxx), an in-
mate set to be executed for a crime he didn’t com-
mit. As Stevenson attempts to clear his name, he un-
covers the racist conspiracy that led to McMillian’s
wrongful conviction. “It’s a system that preys on
people of color, people who are poor, who are un-
educated,” Jordan says. “When you leave this movie,
I want you to question what you think is normal.”
Jordan got his start in intimate, character- driven
dramas that illuminate stories some viewers might
sideline, before he turned to blockbusters. And
^
Jordan and
Foxx, left, star
as Stevenson
and McMillian,
seen at right
after McMillian’s
release in 1993JOURNAL FOR JORDAN
Denzel Washington will
direct Jordan as a soldier
separated from his family
during the Iraq WarWITHOUT REMORSE
Jordan will star in an
adaptation of Tom
Clancy’s 1993 novel, set
in the Jack Ryan universe