“Juror #2” is rumored to be Clint Eastwood’s last film as a director.
Sad if true, but he is 94 years old. He deserves the rest if he wants it.
If this is his last stint behind the camera, however, a legendary career ends with more of a whimper than a bang. And Eastwood has had a lot of bangs as a director — “Unforgiven,” “Million Dollar Baby,” “The Outlaw Josey Wales,” for instance.
“Juror #2,” a kind of moral thriller, falls in the solid-effort category, like his previous film, “Cry Macho.” It’s not the kind of film that made his reputation, but it’s also not the kind that will harm it, either.
Is this Clint Eastwood’s last film? Let’s hope not
The story is where it falls short. The direction is taut as ever in an Eastwood film, and the performances are good. But the plot strains credulity to the breaking point.
Nicholas Hoult stars as Justin Kemp, a magazine writer whose wife, Ally (Zoey Deutch), is about to have their first baby. The film opens with Justin just having put the finishing touches on the nursery, surprising Ally. “You’re perfect,” she says.
Hold on a second while we wave this GIANT RED FLAG.
Justin has been selected for jury duty. Like anyone else who’s ever been called, he hopes he isn’t seated for the trial, a grisly murder in which a man (Gabriel Basso) is accused of beating his girlfriend, Kendall (Francesca Eastwood, Eastwood’s daughter), after an argument in a bar and throwing her off a bridge on a rainy night the year before.
The prosecutor (Toni Collette) is running for district attorney, so she wants a conviction. Despite going up against her, the defense attorney (Chris Messina) feels like there is something off about the whole case.
And there is! Because wouldn’t you know it, as Justin, who indeed has been seated as Juror #2, realizes when he hears the opening statements that he may have been responsible for Kendall’s death. (This is revealed in the trailer.) Probably not the kind of thing you would forget, you may be thinking, but in fairness it is a little more complicated than that.
Justin is a recovering alcoholic, and while he was not drinking the night of Kendall’s death, he has reason to believe he may have caused it. As the details are sorted out, Justin has to figure out how to keep the jury from convicting an innocent man — most of them just want to get home for dinner — while not incriminating himself.
It’s not a whodunit. It’s a will he or won’t he — or will someone else figure out what really happened?
Toni Collette makes the film more than a ‘Law & Order’ episode
Hoult gives a convincing performance as a man tortured by his conscience and his hopes for the future (new baby and all). I especially liked that his Justin is able to compartmentalize his dilemma at times, not just sit around hangdog while pulling his hair out.
J.K. Simmons is, well, J.K. Simmons, as another juror who suspects there is more to the case than what they’ve been presented, but isn’t yet sure what. If his performances are often similar, they’re also similarly strong.
The focus shifts to Collette, particularly in the second half of the movie. She, too, is conflicted, haunted by doubt as she starts snooping around but clouded by ambition. If it weren’t for her and Hoult, this could have been a supersized episode of “Law & Order.”
Well, them and Eastwood. He keeps things clean and crisp, even as the jury members break all kinds of rules that would get the case thrown out. Which is fine. It’s not a documentary. But it’s not a fable, either, despite the dueling morality dilemmas.
“Juror #2” isn’t quite forgettable, but it’s also not the movie we’ll remember Eastwood for.
‘Juror #2’ 3 stars
Great ★★★★★ Good ★★★★
Fair ★★★ Bad ★★ Bomb ★
Director: Clint Eastwood.
Cast: Nicholas Hoult, Toni Collette, Zoey Deutch.
Rating: PG-13 for some violent images and strong language.