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Cinema royalty Clint Eastwood is a director who works best when presented with a solid script, with the caveat being that he sometimes needs to learn how to properly judge a script. While his visual style and work ethic on set with the cast and crew are proficient and professionally relaxed (a trait not often found in most Hollywood directors), there are times when his choice of stories to tell (and the way he chooses to tell them) don't appear to be on par with the kind of pedigree Mr. Eastwood has built up for himself.
For an apropos example, I think it's been long enough to say that American Sniper, while admirable in a few areas, was an overall propaganda mess that was not worthy of a Best Picture nomination, and The 15:17 to Paris, while a worthy story, would have been better told with a tighter script and actual actors rather than the participants themselves. No, really, Clint Eastwood got the real heroes of that day to portray themselves in the movie adaptation. When comparing those films mentioned above to some of his better works, such as Mystic River and Million Dollar Baby, it's challenging to not notice a potential lack of script-quality judgment on his part.
Fortunately, the script for Clint Eastwood's latest offering, Juror #2, is as solid as possible, allowing a seamless and wholeheartedly well-crafted film about secrets, justice, and the line we can sometimes draw to serve one over the other.
The story follows a young columnist named Justin Kemp (Nicholas Hoult), who is summoned to jury duty for a murder trial. While Justin initially attempts to escape performing his civic duty due to his wife near the end of a complex pregnancy, Justin finds himself selected for duty. Things take an even worse turn when Justin learns the details of the case and has reasonable cause to not only believe the defendant may be innocent but that he may be directly connected to the case. However, dark aspects of his past cause reluctance to come forward with his knowledge, attempting to help the poor fellow secretly while maintaining his own. The question is whether it will be enough to allow justice to prevail.
The film is a solid story with a sharp script and committed performances. Nicholas Hoult demonstrates his usual and ranged talent as an actor. The supporting cast, especially high-quality staples like J.K Simmons and Kiefer Sutherland, bring the perfect amount of gravitas to the proceedings. The MVP award goes to Toni Collette for her excellent talent and bonus points for being the best character in the story with the most satisfying arc.
Juror #2 may not be the most earth-shattering film of this year, but it is a solid work with enough twists and turns to keep the audience's attention and plenty of goodies to make it a satisfying watch. If you're looking for good, clever entertainment, check this out.
Ladies & gentlemen, I am TheNorm; thank you all for reading.
