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| Images courtesy of Warner Brothers |
The last time we saw Clint Eastwood in the director’s chair
as well as on the silver screen was the post-COVID 2021 lighthearted western
drama Cry Macho. Adapted from the
1975 novel of the same name, the film opened to mixed reviews and for some
forecasted the coming end of the great actor and director’s creative
output. Three years later, at the age of
94, Eastwood is back with the Nicholas Hoult courtroom drama Juror #2, a
film which gained some minor notoriety online when it became apparent that
Warner Brothers CEO David Zaslav all but completely buried what will probably
be Eastwood’s final film in the United States.
For several months, the film played overseas while talk of dumping the
film outright on the Max streaming platform was-floated about here. Until circa-Thanksgiving Day, the film
quietly expanded from it’s miniscule fifty-theater opening to a somewhat wider
proper theatrical run, giving audiences a chance to finally see Clint Eastwood’s
latest film as he intended prior to its digital release tomorrow.
Savannah, Georgia based recovering alcoholic journalist
Justin Kemp (Nicholas Hoult) is summoned for jury duty involving the death of
Kendall Carter who a year ago exited a local bar after fighting with her
boyfriend James Sythe (Gabriel Basso) before being found dead under a bridge
with all eyes on Sythe as the prime suspect.
However, as the married man with an expectant wife digs deeper into the
case it becomes apparent he himself may have more culpability in the crime than
he initially realized, creating a moral dilemma where he fears the wrong man
might face conviction while also fending off suspicion he might involuntarily
draw upon himself. Spearheading the case
is prosecuting attorney Faith Killebrew (Toni Collette) who has her own motives
for taking the case hoping to campaign for district attorney. As the jury room itself wrangles over the
facts and misgivings raised by Justin Kemp in scenes echoing 12 Angry Men,
the film becomes something of a morally ambiguous thriller that’s intensely
critical of the judicial system while also functioning as a nuanced character
study of a internally conflicted man coming to terms with whether or not he is
ready to give himself up.
With arresting scope cinematography by recurring Eastwood
collaborator Yves Bélanger and an understated somewhat mournful score by Cry
Macho composer Mark Mancina, Juror #2 is one of the filmmaker’s best
in years leaving the audience with much to contemplate long after the film is quietly
over. With Nicholas Hoult in the Henry
Fonda role of 12 Angry Men in that his refusal to concede to a guilty
verdict without further investigating the facts, the actor is given perhaps his
most complete role in his still evolving resume. Shouldering the film and tasked with
portraying a wide variety of wordless facial expressions conveying his own
horror when he begins to question everything he thought he knew going into the
case, Hoult is proving to be more than a character actor but a major movie star
ready to disappear into a role. Toni
Collette and J.K. Simmons give solid, nuanced performances as well in strong
supporting roles while Keifer Sutherland makes an unexpected appearance as
Justin Kemp’s AA sponsor and defense attorney.
All in all, it is a strong ensemble piece largely navigated by Hoult and
Collette.
Controversial for not being given a typical regular domestic
theatrical run in the US while the rest of the world happily got it in cinemas
with many think pieces written on what engendered the decision to more or less
bury the film here, Juror #2 now expanded to something resembling an
actual theater run for only a few days before landing on streaming is an
understated and nuanced courtroom drama featuring a gifted performance from
Nicholas Hoult. Likely to be the last
time Eastwood will sit in the director’s chair unless he’s got another one up his
sleeve, Juror #2 unlike his others invites discussion and potential
revisitation rather than laying it all on the plate to be taken in on a single
helping. In other words, this is one you’ll
find yourself coming back to over the years.
That it barely received a theatrical release is a tragic disservice to
one of the company’s most prolific and profitable players, even at the ripe old
age of 94. Even now, the filmmaker
despite slowing down hasn’t lost his touch and can still make you pick your own
brain about what you’ve seen long after the end credits finish rolling.
--Andrew Kotwicki
