THE STORY – A juror for a high-profile murder trial finds himself struggling with a serious moral dilemma that could influence the verdict and potentially convict, or free, the accused killer.
THE CAST – Nicholas Hoult, Toni Collette, J. K. Simmons, Chris Messina, Zoey Deutch, Cedric Yarbrough & Kiefer Sutherland
THE TEAM – Clint Eastwood (Director) & Jonathan Abrams (Writer)
THE RUNNING TIME – 114 Minutes
At 94 years of age, the legendary Clint Eastwood has shown no signs of slowing down, continually reading scripts, going into production, and pumping out his films quickly. His last directorial effort, “Cry Macho,” which was rumored to possibly be his last time acting in front of the camera which led many to believe it might also be his last directorial effort, left much to be desired as a potential swan song for the multi-time Academy Award-winning filmmaker. While no such expectations have been placed on “Juror #2,” Eastwood’s latest directorial offering, the film has not received the level of care from its studio and distributor as any film from Eastwood at this point in his career should be receiving. The man has done it all in this business, and at the very least, he has earned our respect, even if his movies may not always hit the mark. Luckily, “Juror #2” is a solid directorial effort from Eastwood. Although it may not rank among his best works, it’s still a riveting courtroom drama with much to say regarding our current legal system and how the pursuit of justice is never black and white.
Cartoonist, artist, and former alcoholic Justin Kemp (Nicholas Hoult) is expecting his first child with his dear wife Ally (Zoey Deutch). He has recently been called to jury duty in the state of Georgia for a murder trial. James Sythe (Gabriel Basso), a former gang member, has been accused of killing his girlfriend Kendall Carter (played by Eastwood’s own daughter, Francesca Eastwood) after a public argument the two had at a local bar on a dark, rainy night. There are eyewitnesses for the fight, and there is even an eyewitness who claims he saw James on the road near the overpass where Kendall’s body was later found with her skull bashed in. The evidence all points toward James as the only suspect; at least, that’s what prosecutor Faith Killebrew (Toni Collette) is trying to convince the twelve members of the jury (as she’s simultaneously pursuing the District Attorney position) as the public defender, Erik Resnick (Chris Messina), is convinced his client is innocent and tries to sway them in the other direction. This seems like a pretty open-and-shut case. Except there’s one problem: as the trial unfolds, Justin realizes he, too, was at the bar that night, and he is directly involved in the murder, which, if revealed, could jeopardize the trial and his entire family.
With an intriguing premise, “Juror #2’s” greatest asset is its performers. In this unusual “About A Boy” reunion, Nicholas Hoult and Toni Collette produce strong work as two individuals racked by moral guilt the deeper they hurl themselves into the case. There are intriguing characters played by J.K. Simmons (a former cop on the jury who decides to conduct his own investigation outside of the court proceedings) and Kiefer Sutherland as another lawyer and Justin’s AA group leader who supports him as the actual complicity of Justin in the murder is brought to light. Sadly, the film forgets about both of them as the plot needs time to focus on the other members of the jury (Cedric Yarbrough is a standout as a man wholly convinced James is innocent), the details of the court case itself both from within the courtroom told through testimony and through flashbacks to what really happened that night at the bar between Kendall and James. Eastwood, being the efficient filmmaker he is, does not typically allow his films to run long, so with just under two hours of runtime, the film can’t possibly give everyone involved equal weight. But where it counts, primarily the clash over what true justice entails and carrying the burden of guilt on one’s shoulders, between Justin and Faith, the film does an adequate job of keeping the plot moving, giving us a gripping character-driven story that tightens the screws on its protagonist until the third act, where it keeps you guessing until the end, just exactly how this will all turn out for Justin. Hoult and Colette are more than capable of carrying this sometimes lethargically paced film to its conclusion, giving us a lot to chew on as far as the imperfections of our justice system. While Eastwood films can sometimes veer into the overly political, “Juror #2” keeps those tendencies to a minimum, concentrating his vitriol more towards the broken system that is meant to deliver justice but sometimes does not.
Eastwood once again teams up with cinematographer Yves Bélanger to shoot “Juror #2” after working together on “The Mule” and “Richard Jewell,” but the results often look like a made-for-tv movie with bland visuals and a lack of artistry found in some of his other great films. This may be deliberate as “Juror #2” reeks of the kind of mid-budget adult drama film you’d find your uncle catching on TNT on his couch with a beer in hand. There’s nothing necessarily wrong with that, for as we all know, the mid-budget adult drama is in rare supply nowadays. However, combined with the film’s sluggish pacing, which should’ve been tighter and more thrilling, it doesn’t lend itself well to a compelling cinematic experience.
Mileage will also vary on whether you think the screenplay’s plot is completely ridiculous and/or whether the side characters, especially the jurors themselves, are behaving believably or not. Eastwood attempts to capture the real-life annoyance many of these jurors feel at being away from their families or work and having to serve until a verdict is found. Some want that verdict to be rendered as quickly as possible so they can get back home without any consideration for the evidence or the life they are about to change forever with their final decision, and that’s what Eastwood wants to drive home. He wants us to see how so many things can go wrong in the attempt to provide a verdict, which we all want to believe is the right one but, more often than we care to admit, is not.
“Juror #2” might be Eastwood’s last film, but perhaps it may not be. Given how quickly he works, for all we know, he may still have a few more in the tank. But if this is the film he goes out on, at least it’s a competently made one with two strong performances, one hell of an exciting (albeit preposterous) premise that feels like it was ripped straight out of the 90’s legal thrillers we used to commonly see all the time before the entire cinematic landscape changed, and something meaningful to say regarding our justice system that most of us can agree on in these politically divided times. Like the system itself, “Juror #2” may not be perfect, it’s not even great, but it’s the one we have and it’s the idea that it can be better that keeps us on the hook.
