The Case For Clint's Eastwood's "Juror #2"

Finding justice in a broken system fittingly applies to both the thematic makeup of "Juror #2" and the pitiful release it was ultimately provided. If this is somehow your first time hearing that a new Clint Eastwood picture came out last year, I can't really blame you. Warner Bros. Discovery CEO and industry cretin David Zaslav did just about everything in his power to bury it after Eastwood's previous directorial effort "Cry Macho" underperformed at the box office. It didn't matter that the film suffered from being released amid an ongoing pandemic, nor that "The Mule" before it made nearly $175 million on a $50 million budget. At that point, the best rollout the studio could make for one of their most prolific filmmakers was less than 50 theaters. I managed to make it to the only theater in the entire state playing it and by the time "Juror #2" reached its pitch perfect cut to black, I was left even more dispirited by the film's sabotage. Writer Justin Kemp (Nicholas Hoult) is a soon-to-be father who, in an unfortunate circumstance of bad timing, has been called for jury duty in a high-profile murder trial. In spite of pleading to be excused on account of his wife Allison (Zoey Deutch) being in the midst of a high-risk pregnancy, his request before the judge is denied. So begins the trial of James Michael Sythe (Gabriel Basso), a flawed man accused of murdering his girlfriend Kendall Carter (Francesca Eastwood) after a drunken altercation at a local bar. She's found dead at the bottom of a bridge having been bludgeoned to death during a torrential downpour — or at least that's what it appears to look like on the surface. Eric Resnick (Chris Messina), Sythe's representation, argues that there's no evidence to link his client's whereabouts near the murder scene, while Faith Killebrew (Toni Collette), the Assistant District Attorney who's simultaneously campaigning for the big seat, strongly argues his volatile temper that night proves otherwise. As Justin listens to the facts of the case, something strange happens. He starts to have familiar flashes to the very same night they're talking about. It could only be a coincidence that he was present at the very same bar. On his way home that evening, he's momentarily distracted and accidentally hits a stray deer — or so he believes. The more Justin makes note of the very specific details that led to Kendall's brutal demise, it slowly dawns on him that her killer is not sitting at the defense table, but in the juror's box. The guilt weighs on him as his responsibility as a juror now comes with a terrible burden. At 94 years old, Eastwood makes his presumably final film an intimately tense legal thriller about the fractured process of the American justice system and an even more compelling morality drama about our place in it. There's a throughline that tends to pop up in Eastwood's work surrounding a critical assessment of venerated institutions that are often a lot more fragile than we care to admit. It could have been easy for "Juror #2" to solely focus on Justin's festering guilt, but the film tackles the drama from a multitude of perspectives. If Justin were to turn himself in, the fact that he was at a bar, having been convicted of a prior DUI, would likely result in a harsh sentence that essentially shatters any prospects of an idyllic life with his family. Therefore, to subside his internal culpability, he takes it upon himself to sway a jury full of character actors (Cedric Yarborough, Leslie Bibb, Drew Scheid and a J.K. Simmons for good measure), most of which are prepared to send Sythe up the river without a second thought, towards a verdict of not guilty. But even the jurors have their own diverse reasons for their stubbornness, whether it be wanting to get back home to their families, personal biases or simply going with the crowd. "Yeah, guilty's cool," says a lackadaisical juror when prompted to make a vote. There's plenty of standout performances among the bunch, whether it be Collette as she explores her own doubt about the case or Simmons as a retired detective turned juror who starts to do some investigative digging of his own, but the heart and soul of "Juror #2" undoubtedly belongs to Hoult. He has the perfect face for this. Justin is a man in constant crisis between salvation and damnation as his conscience eats away at him. Hoult is nothing less than exceptional, especially when he's backed into a corner. Eastwood's visual sensibilities are simple but no less intricate. Having honed his craft over the past five decades across just about every genre, he's got a masterful sense of blocking, one that creates this delicate dance between his camera and Hoult's face. The focus is always on him as this is essentially Justin's trial by proxy — a facet he's constantly reminded of when forced to confront the hard truths of this case. I'm still in awe of this one shot of Hoult standing in the garage in which the outside light illuminates the raw vulnerability on his face. His eyes are so piercingly blue you can practically swim in them. "Juror #2" arrives at a point in American history where true accountability is a best-case scenario. In the Justice System presented by Eastwood, the results are destined to bring someone pain. There's a great deal of suspense that derives from the dilemma of whether someone will own up to their place in this mess, and if so, whether it would even be enough. What does it matter if someone else suffers in order to uphold an image of the American status quo? It's a sturdy, old-fashioned morality play in all of the best ways and holds a coveted spot among my favorite films of 2024. If this is indeed the last we see of Eastwood behind the camera, then the celebrated filmmaker goes out with another notable achievement in an already accomplished filmography. Studio indifference may have hindered his swan song from getting a proper theatrical release, but true justice will come for "Juror #2." "Juror #2" is currently streaming on Max. Be kind. Stay safe.