‘Juror #2’: Clint Eastwood’s Directorial Swan Song a Success

Clint Eastwood’s crime-thriller shows us why shirking karmic debt and shirking jury duty are bad ideas. It'll get you ruminating.
‘Juror #2’: Clint Eastwood’s Directorial Swan Song a Success
Justin Kemp (Nicholas Hoult, 2nd from left, front) is reluctantly on jury duty, in "Juror #2." Malpaso Productions/Warner Bros. Pictures
Mark Jackson
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PG-13 | 1h 54m | Crime, Courtroom Drama | Nov. 1, 2024

Every once in a while, they actually make ‘em like they used to. That’s because Clint Eastwood—94-year-old, living-legend Clint Eastwood, who famously eschews newfangled, cockamamie cinematic cotton candy for pithiness—made “Juror #2.” He always attempts to give the audience something they can chew on.

Star Nicholas Hoult (L) and director Clint Eastwood on location for "Juror #2." (Malpaso Productions/Warner Bros. Pictures)
Star Nicholas Hoult (L) and director Clint Eastwood on location for "Juror #2." Malpaso Productions/Warner Bros. Pictures
In what may be his last movie, Eastwood gives us a solid, old-fashioned courtroom drama reminiscent of “12 Angry Men.” “Juror” is a throwback to 1980s and 1990s type medium-budget movies of substance that have been largely replaced by endless comic book sequels. It’s a movie for grown-ups who enjoy doing a bit of ruminating about their entertainment instead of just getting slapped in the face with nonstop CGI spectacle.
The plate of cinematic steak and potatoes served up here features secrets, lies, addiction, and the question of whether to place family before justice. Director Eastwood puts the main character into an unthinkably challenging quandary. It’s everyone’s worst nightmare—a real Gordian knot. There’s a solution not mentioned in the movie that cuts through this particular knot like the sword of Alexander the Great. More on that later.

Protagonist Is Also the Antagonist

Justin Kemp (Nicholas Hoult) is a writer who’s got jury duty. He’d really rather prefer to be at home with his due-any-day-now pregnant wife Allison (Zoey Deutch).
Justin Kemp (Nicholas Hoult, 2nd from left, front) is reluctantly on jury duty, in "Juror #2." (Malpaso Productions/Warner Bros. Pictures)
Justin Kemp (Nicholas Hoult, 2nd from left, front) is reluctantly on jury duty, in "Juror #2." Malpaso Productions/Warner Bros. Pictures

I had grand jury duty last summer, and while I understand its importance, the dark wood paneling, hard benches, droning attorneys, and the Broadway actor who eagerly volunteered to be foreman, relishing, as he did, reading summaries with a Shakespearian declamation, are not how I prefer to spend my time. Many of you know whereof I speak. Reliving that setting again was mildly challenging.

I should be ashamed to say I tend to try to get out of jury duty. (Unfortunately, you can’t be exempt from grand jury duty.) But many people try to shirk regular jury duty. In the Savannah, Georgia setting of the movie, Justin Kemp’s wife’s pregnancy doesn’t get him excused. He will participate in the search for justice in a high-profile murder trial.

Flashbacks

There was a ghastly death; beautiful blonde Kendall (Francesca Eastwood, Clint’s daughter) suffered massive blunt-force trauma, and ended up in a ditch by a bridge, in a rainstorm, on a deserted road. She got there following a night of inebriation and vehement arguing with her boyfriend at Rowdy’s Hideaway, a roadside bar. Witnesses saw him smash a beer bottle, and a small crowd gathered outside the bar to cellphone video the subsequent public screaming match in the parking lot.

Obviously, her boyfriend James (Gabriel Basso) must have done the deadly deed, according to prosecutor Faith Killebrew (Toni Collette), who’s hopeful that this clearly slam-dunk case will usher her straight into the district attorney’s office.

James himself has vehemently claimed innocence from the start, and his lawyer Eric Resnick (Chris Messina) tries his best to introduce enough reasonable doubt to help James avoid life in prison.

When Things Go Bump in the Night

Turns out, recovering alcoholic Justin Kemp himself was at Rowdy’s Hideaway that same night, having a battle of wills with a glass of whiskey, distraught from his wife’s recent miscarriage. Then, driving home in that rainstorm, his mind wandering—something went bump in the night. He thinks he hit a deer—look at that deer crossing sign right there—gotta be.

As the case proceeds, Justin is putting two and two together, Googling “vehicular homicide,” and turning over his possible secret to his AA sponsor who also happens to be a lawyer (Kiefer Sutherland). Can Justin subtly steer his fellow jurors away from a guilty verdict without implicating himself in the process?

It'll be a tough sell, since Harold, one of the jurors (J.K. Simmons), happens to be a former detective. Harold smells a rat in the form of a hit-and-run. The fact that he was a cop should have, of course, come out during jury selection, but there’s a bit of artistic license going on here that allows for some fun twists and turns.

Carrying the Movie

Hoult gives a quiet but compelling performance as a man who soon understands: His entire future is in jeopardy if he fesses up. That he’s a recovering alcoholic struggling with sobriety, who displays a deep gratitude for the second chance at life he’s received, makes him sympathetic. And yet, there’s weaseliness.
Hoult shares with Brat Pack actor Andrew McCarthy the fact that they both often look like they’ve been crying hard for two hours. This make Hoult a perfect Everyman whose secrets emerge in conflicting flashbacks like a mini-“Rashomon.”
Justin Kemp (Nicholas Hoult) is a writer on jury duty who's got secrets, in "Juror #2."  (Malpaso Productions/Warner Bros. Pictures)
Justin Kemp (Nicholas Hoult) is a writer on jury duty who's got secrets, in "Juror #2."  Malpaso Productions/Warner Bros. Pictures

Casting Toni Collette as the prosecuting attorney was a nice touch; Hoult played her son 22 years ago in “About a Boy.” It makes it seem as if she’s a mother who’s gone from discovering some kind of illegitimate stash in her teenager’s sock drawer, to dealing with a grown-up son with far more serious problems.

“Juror #2” is a modest procedural, but the ending is a tooth-rattling shoulder-shake that should generate a barrage of post-viewing discussions. This means I get to add my two cents, which involves the Gordian knot-claim.

I find that Alexander the Great’s sword, with which he slashed the mythic, notoriously impossible-to-loosen knot in half, is a good metaphor, in this case, for the law of karma. The Christian faith doesn’t support it, but objectively speaking, the concepts of karma and reincarnation easily explain many of these types of ethical knots.

Sages have pointed out that attempting to sidestep fate accrues a karmic debt that will invariably demand repayment one way or another. Apparently, during the next go-round, the repayment will be compounded by quite a bit of interest paid in the form of pain.

Justin’s incident—whether fatal or not I won’t say—would have therefore been fate right from the start; it could have been a karmic debt that had circled back and presented itself to him like a bill coming due. The dead girl would therefore have had serious karma to repay as well. She wasn’t able to shirk it. He considers shirking it. One shouldn’t shirk karma repayment. Kinda like one shouldn’t shirk jury duty.

Promotional poster for "Juror #2." (Malpaso Productions/Warner Bros. Pictures)
Promotional poster for "Juror #2." Malpaso Productions/Warner Bros. Pictures
‘Juror #2’ Director: Clint Eastwood Starring: Nicholas Hoult, Toni Collette, Chris Messina, J.K. Simmons, Zoey Deutch MPAA: Rating: PG-13 Running Time: 1 hour, 54 minutes Release Date: Nov. 1, 2024 Rating: 4 stars out of 5
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Mark Jackson
Mark Jackson
Film Critic
Mark Jackson is the chief film critic for the Epoch Times. In addition to film, he enjoys martial arts, motorcycles, rock-climbing, qigong, and human rights activism. Jackson earned a bachelor's degree in philosophy from Williams College, followed by 20 years' experience as a New York professional actor. He narrated The Epoch Times audiobook "How the Specter of Communism is Ruling Our World," available on iTunes, Audible, and YouTube. Mark is a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic.