Mercy, Makeup and Mer-Monsters, Oh My!

Three studio movies stand out that are being released in Chicago theaters on January 10.

Starting off with Just Mercy, it's the true story of lawyer Bryan Stevenson trying to save the day in Alabama. Michael B. Jordan does a fine job, but Jamie Foxx really shines as Walter McMillian. There are graphic scenes of death row and a little humor that Foxx adds to really relieve the tension. Just Mercy is an important story that not only covers racism, but mental health and post traumatic stress.

What troubled me in several movies of 2019, was the use of real people that were altered to make a storyline. It happened in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood and Richard Jewell, among others. While I know they were not making documentaries, I still felt manipulated. Just Mercy shows that filmmakers don't need to do that to create excitement or advance the plot. The real story is just as fascinating as fiction.

Like a Boss may make audiences feel manipulated, but in a different way. It tries hard to make movie watchers laugh and starts off with great raunchy promise until the takeover happens.

Tiffany Haddish and Rose Byrne are very funny as makeup moguls and Billy Porter sashays away with his memorable scene, but Salma Hayek drags the comedy down and Jennifer Coolidge is just plain bizarre. I'm not sure if anyone was creating real human beings when they researched the roles, but at least they get a few good pratfalls and jokes in before the 83 minutes is over.

The weaker of the movie trio is Underwater. The camera just loves Kristen Stewart and she is perfectly believable as a smart researcher in this sci-fi film, but the story grows murkier by the minute. The opening scene moves so fast that I thought it was dream sequence at first, then things get more unbelievable as strange accidents and unexplained creatures cause problems over the course of the adventure.

The Underwater monsters don't manage to rustle up a scare and the characters don't drum up much sympathy before they die.

The creators were possibly looking for another Alien, this time at the bottom of the Mariana Trench, but instead wind up with a wet blanket. Stewart wants to be the next Sigourney Weaver, but is bogged down with a mess of a story that has no sea legs.

Watch Just Mercy to be moved to tears, Like a Boss for a few good laughs and Underwater to feel claustrophobic. Hey, all three movies are better than Cats, meow!