- Director: Clint Eastwood
- Screenwriter: Jonathan Abrams
- Cast: Nicholas Hoult, Toni Collette, J.K. Simmons, Chris Messina, Zoey Deutch, Kiefer Sutherland
- Cinematographer: Yves Bélanger
- Editing: Joel Cox, David Cox
- Score: Mark Mancina
- Genre: Legal thriller
- Runtime: 114 minutes
This may well be Clint Eastwood’s last project in any capacity; whether in front of, or behind the camera. He’s 94 after all. It’s possibly working on this movie that’s kept his mind focused, and therefore, alive.
The story concerns a murder trial; a man is accused of murdering his girlfriend (her body is discovered by a hiker below a bridge). The couple had had a disagreement in a bar one night and when the girlfriend stormed off, he followed her outside. The man, who was witnessed being aggressive towards her, is guilty in the majority of the jury’s eyes – the irony here is that the young woman is played by director’s daughter Francesca Eastwood, who was recently arrested for domestic violence.
Justin Kemp (Nicholas Hoult) believes the man’s innocence but only because…Kemp actually committed the crime himself, initially thinking he’d just hit a deer with his car. As this is revealed early on, we see his attempt to sway the unanimous jury to reconsider their dogmatic view of the accused and save an innocent soul from spending the rest of his life in prison. 12 Angry Men? 1 Guilty Man.
With a solid supporting cast (Toni Collette as the ambitious prosecutor running for District Attorney, and Chris Messina as the defence), ‘Juror #2‘ is an excellent courtroom drama, and beautifully shot; fans of the genre will appreciate Eastwood’s take on it. It makes you think about the consequences if the guilt-ridden Kemp turned himself in; he and his partner are expecting a baby a year on from a miscarriage – would he be depriving that child of a father figure? Would this be a worse outcome for the community? It reminds me of Superman’s slogan: ‘Truth, Justice, and the American Way’. Are truth and justice mutually exclusive?
Should it be so, ‘Juror #2‘ serves as a respectable final entry in the filmography of the legendary Mr. Eastwood.
My rating: 8 / 10
SilverScreen 