{"id":10589,"date":"2025-01-13T16:22:03","date_gmt":"2025-01-13T21:22:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/?p=10589"},"modified":"2025-01-13T16:22:03","modified_gmt":"2025-01-13T21:22:03","slug":"juror-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/2025\/01\/13\/juror-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Juror #2"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Juror #2<\/strong> (2024)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Warner Bros.\/Drama-Thriller\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 RT: 114 minutes\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Rated PG-13 (some violent images and strong language)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Director: Clint Eastwood\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Screenplay: Jonathan Abrams\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Music: Mark Mancina\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cinematography: Yves Belanger\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Release date: November 1, 2024 (US)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cast: Nicholas Hoult, Toni Collette, J.K. Simmons, Chris Messina, Gabriel Basso, Zoey Deutch, Cedric Yarbrough, Leslie Bibb, Keifer Sutherland, Amy Aquino, Adrienne C. Moore, Drew Scheid, Francesca Eastwood, Zele Avradopoulos, Phil Biedron, Bria Brimmer, Jason Coviello, Chikako Fukuyama, Rebecca Koon, Hedy Nasser, Onix Serrano.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Box Office: N\/A<\/p>\n

Rating<\/strong>: ***<\/p>\n

\u00a0Clint Eastwood is one of the finest filmmakers of our time. I\u2019ve made my position on this quite clear a number of times. It\u2019s always a pleasure when he comes out with a new movie. It\u2019s also a privilege. At 94, he might not be with us much longer. Any movie could be his last. I hope and pray to the movie gods that he goes out on a high note when his number is finally called.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Personally, I thought his last movie Cry Macho would have the perfect swan song. Clint should have retired on that one. If you\u2019ve seen it, you understand why this makes sense. Well, Clint\u2019s a guy who likes to keep busy so I figured he might have another one in him. Sure enough, he did, the gripping courtroom drama Juror #2<\/strong>. It has the distinction of being the first Clint Eastwood movie since Bird that I didn\u2019t see at the cinema. The studio, for reasons that remain unclear, opted for a limited theatrical release, opening it in less than 50 theaters around the country. It didn\u2019t even open here in Philadelphia. I will never understand the inner workings of WB these past few years. He\u2019s Clint Eastwood; he deserves more respect than this. Stop pissing away your money on ridiculous DC superhero movies!<\/p>\n

\u00a0A man (Basso, The Night Agent) is on trial for the murder of his girlfriend. He claims he didn\u2019t do it. The ADA prosecuting the case, Faith Killebrew (Collette, The Sixth Sense), needs a conviction. She\u2019s running for DA and it will make her look good. Of course, it\u2019s up to a jury to convict or acquit. That\u2019s where things get dicey.<\/p>\n

\u00a0One of jurors, journalist and recovering alcoholic Justin Kemp (Hoult, Nosferatu), knows more about the case than he lets on. The details are cloudy, but he\u2019s certain that the defendant is innocent. He\u2019d like to be done with this trial ASAP as his wife Ally (Deutch, Zombieland: Double Tap) is in the third trimester of a difficult pregnancy and he\u2019d like to be there for her. However, his conscience won\u2019t let him go and he can\u2019t say anything about what he might know. Instead, he tries to sway the jury. They all vote to convict; he tries to get them to change their minds. Meanwhile, Faith starts to have a few doubts of her own after a brief conversation with a dismissed juror, retired cop Harold (Simmons, Red One).<\/p>\n

\u00a0I don\u2019t want to say anymore about the plot. I don\u2019t want to give too much away. I don\u2019t even want to talk about the development that\u2019s revealed early on. The whole movie is predicated on it. Besides, I\u2019m sure you can guess what it is without me telling you. What I will say is that it adds an extra level of drama to Juror #2<\/strong>. It\u2019s a question of morals. What\u2019s a juror supposed to do when he has pertinent information on a case, especially if it definitively proves the defendant\u2019s guilt or innocence? What if the defendant is a terrible person? Do we still keep quiet? Maybe this person deserves to be in jail. It\u2019s a real conundrum.<\/p>\n

\u00a0There\u2019s also a question of ethics? What if a prosecutor finds out the person they\u2019re trying to convict might be innocent? Do they look into it or proceed with the case? Faith has a lot riding on the outcome. It could determine her political future. On the other hand, she has a duty to uphold the law and apply it fairly. She shouldn\u2019t knowingly send an innocent man to jail if he is indeed innocent. It weighs on her conscience.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Juror #2<\/strong> isn\u2019t your standard issue legal thriller. Nothing is cut and dry. It\u2019s not about the verdict. It\u2019s not about justice being served or not served. It\u2019s more about the effectiveness of the legal system and how it can fail. Clint reveals his growing cynicism about the government and due process. The film plays out like an updated version of 12 Angry Men with the scenes of the jurors arguing and deliberating as Justin attempts to convince them to acquit. The only difference is he\u2019s no Henry Fonda. He\u2019s not doing what he\u2019s doing out of a sense of decency or altruism.<\/p>\n

\u00a0In the title role, Hoult does fine work. I see in him the same star quality I first observed in About a Boy when he was a child actor just starting out. He has an Everyman quality to him. I can see him playing the same kind of dramatic roles Tom Hanks played in his younger years. Collette is equally good as the ADA struggling with a big ethical problem. Chris Messina (Air) delivers a solid performance as the public defender on the case. Keifer Sutherland (24) provides strong support as Justin\u2019s AA sponsor. He serves as his moral sounding board.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Juror #2<\/strong> is a quiet, somewhat contemplative film. It\u2019s like a John Grisham thriller in how it knows the legal system and pays attention to every detail. My only problem is that a crucial element of the story feels rushed and abrupt. I\u2019d like to know more about how it got there. Aside from that relatively small glitch, Juror #2<\/strong> is a good courtroom drama that nicely represents old school filmmaking. Clint is one of the last of the old guard. Let\u2019s appreciate him while he\u2019s still around to appreciate it.\"\"<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Juror #2 (2024)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Warner Bros.\/Drama-Thriller\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 RT: 114 minutes\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Rated PG-13 (some violent images and strong language)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Director: Clint Eastwood\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Screenplay: Jonathan Abrams\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Music: Mark Mancina\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cinematography: Yves Belanger\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Release date: November 1, 2024 (US)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cast: Nicholas Hoult, Toni Collette, J.K. Simmons, Chris Messina, Gabriel Basso, Zoey Deutch, Cedric Yarbrough, Leslie Bibb, Keifer Sutherland, Amy Aquino, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":10612,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10589","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-dramas"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Juror-2-PIC.jpg?fit=620%2C348&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10589","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10589"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10589\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10614,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10589\/revisions\/10614"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10612"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10589"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10589"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10589"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}