Juror #2

Grade: A

There is something about the films of Clint Eastwood that always feels so organic, grassroots, and down to earth. They aren’t grand and cinematic. The stars make their appearances with little to no fanfare. If there is a big name in the movie, it doesn’t necessarily mean they will have a large role. Kiefer Sutherland’s three-scene glorified cameo could have been played by anybody – but because it’s him, his name is on the poster. Eastwood likes to deal in stories about wrongfully accused innocent men, and/or people who should be lauded as heroes, but get unfairly railroaded. He is good at getting me very emotionally invested – often angry at the injustice. I’m particularly thinking of Sully and Richard Jewell.

Juror #2 is one of those films, but this time, the innocent man isn’t the main protagonist. The plot contains one of the wildest coincidences I’ve ever seen in a movie, but it makes for one exciting ride. Nicholas Hoult (Renfield, The Menu) stars as Justin. He has been selected for jury duty, and gets picked for a trial. He’s not too happy about this, because he has a very pregnant wife at home (Zoey Deutch, from Zombieland: Double Tap and The Disaster Artist). The case is about the murder of a young woman (Francesca Eastwood). A year before, she and her boyfriend (Gabriel Basso – J.D. Vance from Hillbilly Elegy) were at their usual bar having one of their notorious arguments. They leave, with her storming off on foot at night in the pouring rain. He maintains that he drove home, and her dead body is found off a bridge in a creek.

Hoult’s juror character gets a bad feeling in his stomach. He was at the bar that night. While driving home, he hit something at that very bridge. He got out to inspect, but didn’t see anything. He chalked it up to a deer, and barely gave it a second thought, until now. The man on trial, as fired up as he was, didn’t do it. Hoult killed that woman. Meanwhile, the other 11 citizens in that box – unwillingly doing their civic duty for $25 a day – are all too eager to slap Basso with “guilty” and go home.

Hoult as Justin is a member of Alcoholics Anonymous, a program that preaches rigorous honesty, repentance, and recovery. He had three years sober the night of the murder. He ordered a strong beverage at the bar, but didn’t drink it. Now, at the time of the trial, he has four years. He wants to sway his fellow jurors to a “not guilty” verdict. If, after that, the case gets investigated further, and the trail leads to him, so be it. He’ll take his medicine. He just wants this guy to be free.

A recurring Eastwood touch is having characters on opposite sides of the fence in the courtroom (like, say, rivaling lawyers) be friendly enough to get together for drinks and a little trash/shop talking after hours. That happens here. Toni Collette is wonderful as the prosecuting attorney, who is currently running for DA. J.K. Simmons shines as a juror with a past that didn’t come up in the initial questioning process. (“Nobody asked,” he says.) So many scenes and moments are rich with subtext. Deutch isn’t just the cute, plucky, chirpy pregnant movie wife. She gets to have layers, in a scene where I wondered if she was telling the truth to the best of her recollection, or having a Lady MacBeth moment and covering her man’s tracks.

The last shot has no dialogue, but says so much. I want to read about it. Normally, when I seek out an “ending explained” article, or a Reddit discussion, it’s to get more information because I wasn’t satisfied with what the film gave me. With Juror #2, it’s a continuation and supplement to what was already a glorious movie.

Grade: A