Juror #2 ★★

Released: 1 November 2024

Director: Clint Eastwood

Starring: Nicholas Hoult, Zoey Deutch

Across Clint Eastwood’s storied career both in front and behind the camera, films exploring justice – both the pursuit of it and the moral questions involved – have been scattered throughout. This makes it fitting that Eastwood returns with the legal thriller that may just be his final film, Juror #2. 

All appears well with Justin Kemp (Nicholas Hoult). Living in Georgia and weeks away from welcoming a baby with his wife Ally (Zoey Deutch), Justin is the everyman about to embark on the next chapter of his life. However, when he’s called for jury duty – an inconvenience he assures his wife he’ll get out of – things take a turn when not only does he fail to be excused, but the facts of the case bear a resemblance to a road incident he had a year prior. On trial is James Michael Sythe (Gabriel Basso), the boyfriend of a woman found dead in a riverbed near a roadside. Sythe is a dubious character who shrewd prosecutor Faith Killebrew (Toni Collette) should have no problem convincing a jury to convict. As the evidence unfolds, an increasingly clammy Justin realises that his accident, which he believed involved an animal, was actually the tragic death of the victim. His dilemma is this: allow an innocent man to go to jail for a crime they didn’t commit, or confess to a death that, though accidental, could still take him away from his family.  It’s accountability versus self-preservation – an intriguing premise, which is impressive considering the long line of legal films seeming to have covered every angle, twist and turn. 

All the ingredients are there to succeed. The cast is rounded out by Chris Messina, J.K. Simmons and Keifer Sutherland; and despite wishing they had more screen time, each give a solid performance. The third act is carried by Collette. Through Faith, Eastwood explores the conflict between a rigid justice system and the human complexities that suggest such a binary view may not always deliver the right outcome. 

Despite so much to work with, Juror #2 quickly becomes hamstrung by an undercooked screenplay that constantly undermines itself. The jurors who take up a large portion of proceedings read as caricatures. While not needing to be fully realised characters, a young man in particular has lines that sound transplanted from a Boomer’s idea of dumb, disinterested youth. This may indeed be the case, but it shouldn’t be so distracting. This lack of believability also affects the film’s tone. While trying to sway his fellow jurors away from Sythe’s guilt, Justin suggests they remain open to different causes of death. Another juror obliges and suggests the victim may have been hit with a car, causing Justin to suddenly and somewhat comically struggle to keep his coffee upright. These blemishes certainly aren’t high crimes on their own, however they hint at deeper issues that stretch credulity. Pushing the film into a silliness that feels tonally out of place given Eastwood’s sleek direction.

.Juror #2 showcases much that is great about Clint Eastwood’s filmmaking. With a worthy premise, it flies frustratingly close to being a thought-provoking examination of legal responsibility and human compassion. Yet, it’s narrative missteps squander the emotional heft it’s cast tries to deliver – and ultimately fail to do Eastwood justice.