JUROR #2

If Juror #2 turns out to be 94-year-old Clint Eastwood’s final film, he goes out on a safe and predictable note with a pleasing legal drama that fits snugly in the middle pack of his filmography.

For the past five decades the relationship between Clint Eastwood and Warner Bros. was one of the sturdiest director-studio combos around. So it feels highly disrespectful that the studio decided to give what might well be Eastwood’s final film only a token cinema release, all the more so since it’s by far his best film since 2016’s Sully.

The picture’s narrative hook is a good one: once selected to serve as a jury member in the trial of a man suspected of killing his girlfriend, a young father-to-be realises that he himself might have been involved in her death. Cue some serious moral soul-searching that fits right into Clint Eastwood’s comfort zone as a director.

In fact, it fits in maybe a bit too comfortable, as in its first hour Juror #2 has such a laid-back tempo you’d be forgiven for thinking you just tuned into an old Matlock or Law and Order episode. Luckily the pace picks up in the film’s second hour, as it builds towards a predictable yet rewarding conclusion.

Utilising a cast that is clearly savouring the chance to be part of the legendary filmmaker’s last hurrah, Juror #2 is classic Eastwood, with a simple but effective visual style, no-fuss editing and morals that are laid on a tad too thick. The scenes are perhaps not as smoothly rendered as in his heyday – and the final act is hampered by some clunky editing choices – but there are still few directors who are able to tell a simple story as well as Eastwood.

So while Juror #2 doesn’t come close to cracking the director’s top ten achievements, Eastwood (probably) bows out with a movie that perfectly encapsulates both his virtues and his flaws as a filmmaker.

release: 2024

director: Clint Eastwood

starring: Nicholas Hoult, Toni Collette, J.K. Simmons, Kiefer Sutherland