Juror #2
Warner Bros
It’s worth noting that Clint Eastwood is one of the most celebrated actors, and directors, of the past sixty years and has released plenty of films to critical acclaim and box office glory. His newest film Juror #2 is shoved into a minuscule amount of theaters, and awards qualification, and will be unceremoniously tossed into the depths of MAX come December. Now, it's no secret that Juror #2 is going to at least try to be a stirring indictment of the United States judicial system. It is going to open up questions about the moral responsibility of the citizens of this country, the difference between truth and justice, and question whether there ever really is an “unbiased” jury. Will it take the time to mull these questions over and speak some hard truths that only Johnathan Abrams, the writer, and Eastwood can answer? No, not exactly.
Juror #2 stars Nicholas Hoult as Justin Kemp, a journalist who has been summoned for jury duty and has a bit of a tricky past regarding alcohol. His wife, played by Zoey Deutch, is in the midst of a dangerous 3rd trimester pregnancy. Abrams does try to give these characters some real heart by giving a tragic backstory to who they are and where they're coming from, but in the end that doesn't necessarily matter when the writing and character work are unbelievably one-dimensional and cliché. The performances themselves are then also unable to give any life to the words being spoken because the direction is flat throughout. There seems to be no desire to pull the best performance possible from these actors because so much of what is portrayed on screen is stilted and uninteresting.
There is one particular scene that does stand out as being the finest in the film, and it falls into the final few moments. Toni Collete, who plays the prosecutor, and Hoult's character are sitting on a bench discussing the themes of the film for the audience and even though this could've gone the way of the rest of this film it does end up being rather powerful. Unfortunately, this is squandered by dragging the audience along for another twenty minutes of repetitive nonsense. It turns out to be a very unfortunate circumstance as this film which is written to be supremely emotional and hard-hitting for those watching ends up being more of a melodramatic, coincidence-filled trainwreck for far too much of its runtime.
This would normally be a good time to discuss the more technical aspects of the film in detail. The score, shot direction, and set design is absolutely nothing to write home about and just add to the overall stagnant feeling left over once the credits begin to roll. The dramatic cut to black gave nothing but a sigh of relief that the film had finally come to an end, and far too late at that.
It is worth noting that the best performance in this film does not belong to any of our main players and belongs to Chris Messina, the public defender of the accused killer. He brings his A-game to every one of his lines and delivers them with precision and belief that was difficult to find in most of the other performances. This may be due to the fact that he is present in the film significantly less than anyone else mentioned, but it is worth bringing up nonetheless.
Ultimately, Juror #2 is a massive disappointment and one that could've been salvaged with a simple rewrite or another pass through the edit. However, it isn't worth going through any “what if” scenarios because this is the final cut that audiences were given. The overall consensus has been very positive across the board so go and support a local theater, and go and support Clint Eastwood. There are very few filmmakers out there like him and even if this one may not work across the board it is worth checking out for that reason alone.