The Reel Review
A high-profile homicide trial in Savannah, Georgia is thrown into turmoil when one of the jurors realizes that he has information that could likely clear the defendant and put his own future at risk. Nicholas Hoult and Toni Collette star in this courtroom crime drama from director Clint Eastwood.
With an initial jury deliberation eerily taken word for word from the 1957 classic courtroom drama 12 Angry Men, the screenplay from Jonathan A. Abrams illustrates the timelessness of the prejudices and confirmation bias that each individual – be it juror, prosecutor, judge or defense attorney – brings into a trial. When Hoult’s Juror #2 realizes his likely accidental involvement in the victim’s death, he is guilt-ridden and starts to raise questions during jury deliberations as to the accused’s guilt. This Pandora box ultimately hands Collette’s prosecutor (and aspiring District Attorney) the job of finding justice.
Oscar winner JK Simmons (Whiplash), Zoey Deutch (Zombieland: Double Tap), Chris Messina, Leslie Bibb and Kiefer Sutherland round out the strong supporting cast in this cleverly constructed crime drama, with Eastwood’s final scene smartly and succinctly leaving room for the viewer to interpret what likely happens next. If this truly is Eastwood’s last film, he is capping his career on a triumph.
REEL FACTS
• Juror #2 is expected to be 94-year-old Clint Eastwood’s final film.
• Eastwood’s daughter Francesca with former partner Francis Fisher (Unforgiven), plays the role of crime victim Kendall Carter in Juror #2.
• Toni Collette played Nicholas Hoult’s mother in the 2002 dramedy, About a Boy.
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