Juror #2 review

JUROR #2: 

CLINT EASTWOOD LEGAL THRILLER IS ONE OF HIS BEST FILMS IN A WHILE! 

By Nico Beland

Movie Review: *** ½ out of 4

WARNER BROS. PICTURES

Nicholas Hoult in Juror #2

 

            Director Clint Eastwood (Unforgiven, Million Dollar Baby, Gran Torino) returns to cinema with his new legal thriller, Juror #2. The film is speculated to be Eastwood’s last movie and received backlash after Warner Bros. planned to dump it on Max and give it only a limited theatrical release, Joker: Folie à Deux was far more important to show in every theater possible. 

            So, I ventured out to a theater that was showing it after hearing very positive word of mouth about it. Not to mention this may be the last time I get to review a Clint Eastwood movie with the last one I reviewed being 2021’s Cry Macho which was not so great, so seeing this was a given. 

            Juror #2 however, is freaking great and Eastwood’s best directed film since probably Richard Jewell in 2019. This is a damn good legal thriller that’s as exhilarating as it is intriguing and heightened by some stellar performances by the cast. 

            The film follows journalist and recovering alcoholic, Justin Kemp (Nicholas Hoult-X-Men franchise, The Favourite, The Menu) being called to serve as a juror on a high-profile murder trial. He soon finds himself struggling with a moral dilemma, one he could use to sway the jury and potentially convict or free accused killer, James Michael Sythe (Gabriel Basso-The Big C, The Kings of Summer, Hillbilly Elegy). 

            The film also stars Toni Collette (The Sixth Sense, Knives Out, Mickey 17) as District Attorney Faith Killebrew, Zoey Deutch (Everybody Wants Some!!, Zombieland: Double Tap, The Outfit) as Kemp’s wife Ally, Chris Messina (The Mindy Project, Argo, Air) as public defender Eric Resnick, Kiefer Sutherland (Flatliners, Dark City, 24) as Kemp’s defense attorney Larry Lasker, J.K. Simmons (Spider-Man trilogy, Whiplash, Red One) as former homicide inspector Harold, Amy Aquino (Moonstruck, In Good Company, Bosch) as Judge Thelma Hollub, Leslie Bibb (Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby, Iron Man, About My Father) as Denice Aldworth, Cedric Yarbrough (Reno 911, The Boondocks, Unfrosted) as Marcus, and Adrienne C. Moore (Orange Is the New Black, Shaft (2019), Wonder Woman: Bloodlines) as Yolanda. 

            Overall, Juror #2 is a solid directing effort from Clint Eastwood and if this is to be his final film then he went out on a high note. I was enthralled and captivated throughout during my viewing of it especially for a movie I didn’t see a single trailer for until the day before going to see it. 

            What I really like about this movie is that it paints the judicial system as let’s be real, a very flawed system because much of the people conducting the trial didn’t witness the events themselves, but it’s also the closest thing we have to justice. It also helps that the people on jury duty don’t want to be there not even our main protagonist, Justin (Who the Hell actually gets excited for jury duty? Honestly!), but as the trial goes on he begins to piece together what actually happened as he starts to feel guilt over the fact he may have caused the person’s death. 

            But even with that and Justin trying to argue with the rest of the jury that the man on trial is actually innocent, it’s based on others’ interpretations and arguments surrounding the evidence at the crime scene which can lead to false imprisonments. The movie also shows the events leading up to the person’s murder told from different perspectives, all of which could be true but you start to question “Was this man actually an abusive prick or did he legitimately care about this person, but because of a drunken argument it led to her accidentally getting killed on her way home on a stormy night?”, there’s no clear answer to this which makes the trial consistently interesting as it plays out. 

            The acting is superb especially from Nicholas Hoult who I’ve been a fan of since 2011’s X-Men: First Class and even after seeing him in films like The Favourite and The Menu, I’ll go on record and say this is his best performance. It doesn’t seem like he’s trying to win an Oscar or anything here, but he is so believable and endearing as this jury member who slowly starts to feel guilt and remorse over something he may have done and right before becoming a father on top of that, he isn’t going big with his performance, but it feels natural and human thus more relatable than an eccentric, over-the-top performance. 

            Toni Collette is also great as the District Attorney who’s trying to prosecute James Sythe in her first collaboration with Hoult since 2002’s About a Boy though they don’t quite share as much screen-time together in this film. She actually has more chemistry with Chris Messina’s Eric who defends Sythe as innocent and also happens to be a friend of hers, a bit of a frenemy sort of thing going on but it was a joy seeing these two actors work off each other. 

            J.K. Simmons brings a lot of credibility to a performance that doesn’t really impact the plot that much, but the film itself is significantly enhanced by his involvement alone. Regardless of genre, J.K. Simmons makes everything better and I look forward to seeing him as Santa Claus in Red One in a couple weeks. 

            Juror #2 is a gripping and phenomenally acted legal thriller that keeps your interest all the way through and one of Clint Eastwood’s best films in recent years. If this is meant to be his final film I ain’t complaining because this is one Hell of a swan song for his career, but if this is not the end and he makes another movie after this I hope it is from a studio that treats its directors and their work with respect. 

            This is a film I strongly encourage you to go see in theaters even if you have to take a long drive to get to a theater that’s playing it. It deserves your money and attention with the only ones who should be guilty being Warner Bros. and David Zaslav for committing the heinous crime of not putting this out in more theaters.