68
Metascore
50 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 75The Film StageChristopher SchobertThe Film StageChristopher SchobertIt is impossible to walk away from Just Mercy unmoved. ... Yet Destin Daniel Cretton’s third feature also feels a bit predictable, a bit obvious, and never quite as compelling as one might expect.
- 70The Hollywood ReporterJohn DeForeThe Hollywood ReporterJohn DeForeA straightforward biopic ... The film's edge is somewhat dulled by respect for its subject, who's drawn here as more hero than man.
- 70TheWrapSteve PondTheWrapSteve PondCretton has made and will make subtler movies, but probably none that will prompt as many mid-screening rounds of applause.
- 70Vanity FairRichard LawsonVanity FairRichard LawsonIt’s a rousing and moving enough film that one is compelled to excuse the limits of its artistry.
- 60The GuardianBenjamin LeeThe GuardianBenjamin LeeCretton ... can’t quite rise to the material or his performers, choosing anonymity over ferocity, making the dullest, safest decision at every turn. It’s not enough to topple the fascinating true story at his film’s centre but it does have a frustrating, flattening effect.
- 60Los Angeles TimesJustin ChangLos Angeles TimesJustin ChangThe movie is almost exactly what you’d expect: It has stirring speeches, infuriating setbacks and a tendency to overstate the obvious.
- 58The PlaylistJason BaileyThe PlaylistJason BaileyIt’s just uninspired, a by-the-books courtroom drama, full of big speeches about justice and equality and Doing What’s Right, moved along by montages and fake-outs.
- 50Slant MagazineJake ColeSlant MagazineJake ColeIn a time when awareness and acknowledgement of racial bias and extrajudicial measures by law enforcement in America is at its most widespread, such scenes feel condescendingly pitched to an unconverted audience of the imagination.