Clemency

source: Clemency

No, I'm not going to complain about how "woke" and "liberal" it was, this film disappointed on every level because it was just so gosh-awful TEDIOUS. How could this subject matter induce so many yawns? Dull, dull, dull. Dreadful acting from all concerned - I honestly can't believe they thought the performance by the lead female was worthy of releasing to the public. About 90 minutes in I was crying "Mercy! Please! Show mercy!"

Sorry Movie Fans, Dislike giving bad reviews but this Film just lacked Pace. Really great acting with lot's of close ups with no dialogue. Also dislike Spoilers but they should have ended it differently. Psychological torture. Will give an extra high five to Michael O'Neill as the Priest.

Might sound stupid, but this feature film about the walk of dead men, and the accumulating stress on all the people that administrates and overview the procedures, which must be a beast of burdain over long time. its a harsh, depressive , but still a watchable dramafilm. its very well made and the introsequence are mindblowing in its silence and tension. its a recommend from the grumpy old man.

"Clemency" (2019 release; 113 min.) brings the story of Bernadine Williams. As the movie opens, Williams, a prison ward, and her staff are preparing for another execution (by injection). Things are incredibly tense, in particular when the paramedic cannot find a vein for the injection and almost botches the execution. Williams can't fall asleep at night as she is haunted by the memories of the almost-botched execution. We are then introduced to Anthony, another prisoner on death row. Anthony is counting on his lawyer Marty to appeal for clemency... At this point we are 10 min. into the movie, but to tell you more of the plot would spoil your viewing experience, you'll just have to see for yourself how it all plays out. Couple of comments: this is the second film from Nigerian-born writer-director Chinonye Chukwu. Here she takes a look at how life on death row is affecting everyone: the warden and prison staff, the prisoners, their family, and even the victims' family. We never really learn many details as to why Anthony is on death row. What we do know is that Williams does her job the best she can, and that behind the outwardly calm and professionalism, she is hurting and barely hanging on. This also jeopardizes her marriage, There are so many harrowing moments in the movie, that I had to look away on several occasions. Credit for all this goes of course to Chukwu, a rapidly up-and-coming new directing talent. Major kudos also to Alfre Woodard, as she is beyond spectacular in the lead role of Warden Williams. This movie premiered with immediate acclaim at last year's Sundance film festival, yes a full year ago. It just now reached my art-house theater station here in Cincinnati. The Saturday early evening screening where I saw this at was not attended well, 8 people to be exact. That is a darn shame. There is a=good reason why this movie is currently certified 92% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes. If the death penalty or death row dramas are of interested to you, I'd readily suggest you check this out, be it in a theater (if you still can), on VOD, or on DVD/Blu-ray in a few months (scheduled for release in March), and draw your own conclusion.

The film could have had a faster pace, but even if it had it would still be depressing. It's not a film to be watched by the meek.

I'm very disappointed across the board. The acting was pretty good. Very good at times. But so much of the movie's "energy" was negative and dark. I understand that it was intended as a major dose of reality. But many opportunities were missed to round out the story and to provide valuable takeaways. I wouldn't recommend this movie to anyone except perhaps for capital punishment activists.

I seem to agree with most of the other reviews. The acting was first rate; however it was very slow and the ending left a LOT to be desired.

All throughout the movie it's ALL about the perp. The perp does not throughout the movie mention the victim or his wife and his children...that the person killed will NEVER be able to attend his own children's weddings...nor EVER be able to hold his grand children nor will his children and grandchildren be able to enjoy his company. It's ALL about HIM. The warden incidentally is an absolute disgrace a the end. Absolutely unfit to be a warden.

Despite strong core performances by lead actress Alfre Woodard, as a distraught prison warden on the verge of an emotional breakdown, and Aldis Hodge, as a death-row inmate, Clemency's director Chinonye Chukwu never gets together in dramatic terms, no matter how compelling individual scenes may be. His message of anti-death-penalty is praiseworthy, and there are powerful moments in it, but too often the expositional dialog states the thoughts of the director in exact terms, detracting from the finer qualities of the film. Worse, the warden of Woodard remains a cypher, her final catharsis coming from both an evident and obscure location. While Clemency needs mercy, it is not deserving of her grace. With an official eye, Woodard's warden, Bernadine Williams, presides over her prison. Everything detracts from her task of running a tight ship and making everything go as planned. If, right at the start of the novel, the official executioner is unable to find a good vein for the rendezvous with fate of that day's prisoner in a painfully clinical scene, there are repercussions. However, beyond the official calculation, it is the mental state of Bernadine that is most under threat. Or so it seems like that. Interestingly, she responds less to her title than to her first name, as if she is crying for recognition from her submerged humanity. But, back home, her husband (Wendell Pierce) would love to see some of that concealed humanity, just secret, deadened by the constant drinking of his wife. Elsewhere, Hodge's Anthony Woods, who maintains his innocence years after being put away in a botched robbery for killing a cop (he says it was his partner who pulled the trigger), is struggling to accept his coming fate. To his mind, his life is but a pointless exercise. Until, that is to say, he learns that he has a friend, and then he develops hope unexpectedly. With a little faith in the future, there's nothing wrong, unless you have none. Sadly, Woods ' lawyer (Richard Schiff) is also a hideous amateur, at least based on the evidence here, although obviously an idealistic and loving person. He sighs and shrugs, shrugging his shoulders against the world's injustice. If I could be so bold, I recommend that he look at the career of Bryan Stevenson, creator and executive director of the Equal Justice Initiative (who in a few weeks gets his own, better film, with Just Mercy). Now there's a prosecutor doing more than just declaring his powerlessness. Poor Woods has no ability to get the titular clemency. And so it goes in this bleak story of our mutual failure to make a difference to the scheme. There is no doubt that there is reality in that wailing lament, but it is unbearable to watch passivity in the face of injustice after a while. Nevertheless, Woodard and Hodge are doing their best and they have real power in the scenes that show them together. It's too bad, however, that Chukwu flubs her end, wasting a lengthy final closeup on Woodard and a potential tear by continuing the take until an unnecessary explosion. We're getting it: she's broken and can recover now. We're told what we know, like in so much of the film, and not told what we need. This Clemency falls short of absolution, disturbing as it can be in situations.