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Juror #2 is how Justin (Nicholas Hoult) is assigned when he gets called up for jury duty, just at the point when his other half, Allison (Zoey Deutch), is pregnant, but is told that since he’d normally work office hours, and the court works that way, too, he’s stuck with it.
Nice try. No-one really wants to be there as they have lives to get back to, but for the case, we’re told that on October 25th (year unspecified, but apparently two weeks before a US Presidential election – even though that’s the only time it gets mentioned), meathead James Michael Sythe (Gabriel Basso) went out for a drink with his girlfriend, Kendall Carter (Francesca Eastwood), but while everyone saw him full of anger, and the pair having arguments, she ended up dead the next morning, and at the bottom of a ditch, but did he do it?
Apart from the fact that director Clint Eastwood working more relatives into a film never ensures they have a career that’ll take off, the dilemma for Justin is that he bought a drink in the same bar that night, but on the way home was driving along the same road where she died, but hit a deer that night and his car took the brunt of it… or did he hit something or someone else?
As Larry (Kiefer Sutherland), his lawyer – as well as the man who leads his AA meetings, if he came forward with his testimony, he’d get accused of having fallen off the wagon and would surely cop for it, meaning he’s spending many years in a cell with Mr Big who’s in with the wardens. That’s certainly not what he needs, just as he’s about to become a Dad.
So, when the jurors get together – including JK Simmons as Harold, and Chikako Fukuyama as the stunning Keiko – for an initial show of hands, everyone votes guilty, except for Justin, who thinks Freddy Quimby son should walk out of here a free hotel!
Walking around the courts like they own the place are Toni Collette as hard-as-nails prosecution lawyer Faith Killebrew, who wants to run for district attorney, and Chris Messina as James’ defence lawyer, Eric Resnick, but as for which way things will go, the burden of proof is something for the prosecution to put forward, since if James goes down for something he hasn’t done, that’s the rest of his life behind bars.
Overall, Juror #2 is competently directed and feels like a ’90s John Grisham thriller, but plays too straight a bat, and never feels like a very thrilling thriller. You walk in, you spend two hours watching it, it doesn’t excite your life in any way, you don’t feel like you’ve wasted your time, and then you move on.
And that’s not what you really want to say about a film with Clint Eastwood behind it. I know he’s 94 and he’s made many great films in the past, both in front of and behind the camera, but this will not be one of them. Still, at least it’s not Sully.
NOTE: There is no mid- or post-credit scene.
Juror #2 is in cinemas now, and is available to pre-order on Blu-ray, ahead of its release date TBA.
Detailed specs:
Cert: 
Running time: 114 minutes
Release date: October 25th 2024
Studio: Warner Bros
Aspect Ratio: 2.39:1 (ARRIRAW (4.6K), Anamorphic Panavision)
Cinema: Odeon Trafford Centre
Rating: 6/10
Director: Clint Eastwood
Producers: Clint Eastwood, Adam Goodman, Jessica Meier, Tim Moore, Peter Oberth, Matt Skiena
Screenplay: Jonathan Abrams
Music: Mark Mancina
Cast:
Justin Kemp: Nicholas Hoult
Allison Crewson: Zoey Deutch
Faith Killebrew: Toni Collette
Eric Resnick: Chris Messina
Yolanda: Adrienne C Moore
Brody: Drew Scheid
James Michael Sythe: Gabriel Basso
Kendall Carter: Francesca Eastwood
Denice Aldworth: Leslie Bibb
Courtney: Hedy Nasser
Vince: Phil Biedron
Marcus: Cedric Yarbrough
Bailiff Wood: Bria Brimmer
Larry Lasker: Kiefer Sutherland
Harold: JK Simmons
Keiko: Chikako Fukuyama
Judge Thelma Hollub: Amy Aquino
Irene: Zele Avradopoulos
Eli: Onix Serrano
Campaign Manager: Melanie Harrison
Luke: Jason Coviello
Nellie: Rebecca Koon
Allison’s Friend: Megan Mieduch
Hideaway Bartender: Katelynn Newberry
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.