Cinema from the Spectrum

At age 94, one can only imagine how much time left does Clint Eastwood have within him. But there’s still something to be admired about the fact that he has maintained such a consistency within him behind his output as a director. In his newest offering, Juror #2, we’re seeing how someone who’s lived within the United States for so long would eventually come to feel about the ways that the legal system has been transformed over the years. And it’s all shown to be done for the worst, but he never wants us to reduce people down to a simple binary of “good” or “bad.” But in a world that expects people to judge based on that alone, it seems only like a greater existential crisis were to come forth.

Nicholas Hoult stars as Justin Kemp, a journalist and recovering alcoholic happily married to Ally Crewson (Zoey Deutch). One day, he is called to serve jury duty for a high-profile murder case, in which James Sythe (Gabriel Basso) is on trial for the death of his girlfriend. But as the details about the incident come slowly, Justin realizes that he might have a closer tie to this case than he had expected, which puts him within the midst of a moral crisis to the frustration of some of his fellow jurors. To be at the center of an intense moral dilemma, Clint Eastwood also encourages his viewers to reckon with the broken system within which they have to work from, but it also leaves one wondering how much faith can they truly have when everything seems so far gone.

There’s nothing more uncomfortable than reckoning with the fact that a person’s entire future will be in your hands, especially when you’re on jury duty. It presents a perfect text for a great thriller present in how Clint Eastwood lets Juror #2 unfold, for it’s a movie all about trying to grasp how you have that power to decide someone’s fate. When you’re in court, it doesn’t matter if you know the person, but it’s the impressions of a person that really seal his fate for the coming days and because a unanimous conclusion must be reached, it can easily be skewered by people who do not want to confront their own biases immediately.

Which is to say that Juror #2 isn’t particularly presenting anything that seems mind-blowing or revelatory. It feels like Clint Eastwood opting to make another film along the same lines as 12 Angry Men in the present day, but we’re also coming to realize that the most gripping drama present in the film is what happens within the courtroom, as the jury is constantly deliberating the fact that this case might not be as clearcut as they would have hoped for it to be to come to a unanimous conclusion within an instant. But there’s only so much patience that one can have when you’ve made up your mind about a man’s fate and what you hope to do in the moment, and one person’s moral crisis would only take up too much time.

Either way, as one can expect from Eastwood, it’s very well-acted – he’s always been a great director with regards to his relationships with actors. Nicholas Hoult is stellar, but there’s also a very heartbreaking turn from Gabriel Basso in the role of the suspect in a murder case. It’s heartbreaking because it doesn’t matter to Clint Eastwood whether he was guilty or innocent of the crime in question, but because he still sees that there’s humanity behind himself despite his circumstances. A surprising dramatic turn can also be found from Cedric Yarbrough, a juror letting his gut instincts decide what to make, despite evident errors in how Sythe’s defense was handled.

For Clint Eastwood though, it’s a perfect opportunity to ruminate about whether or not the very systems that American citizens have upheld is really as solid in its foundation as many would say. Perhaps that might be where Juror #2 can find its biggest reach, even though it still sits alongside the more conventional of his vast filmography. Yet it’s a movie that is carried along by his own great care for the subject matter at hand, especially given its contemplative nature with regards to how people are left to view others around them. Given the sort of films that Clint Eastwood has been known for as a director, it’s easy enough to yearn for something more adventurous – but as a late period entry, it feels like Clint Eastwood telling all about the United States’ ultimately broken foundations.

Watch the trailer right here.

All images via Warner Bros. Discovery.

Directed by Clint Eastwood
Screenplay by Jonathan Abrams
Produced by Clint Eastwood, Tim Moore, Jessica Meier, Adam Goodman, Matt Skiena
Starring Nicholas Hoult, Toni Collette, J. K. Simmons, Chris Messina, Zoey Deutch, Kiefer Sutherland, Amy Aquino, Leslie Bibb, Cedric Yarbrough, Gabriel Basso
Premiere Date: October 27, 2024
Running Time: 114 minutes