Juror #2 - Review 

Rating: 4 out of 5

CLINT Eastwood delivers another typically intelligent and morally complex film with Juror #2, an old school legal thriller that challenges viewers on a number of levels.

Based upon a screenplay by Jonathan Abrams, Eastwood’s 40th film as director confronts the notion of justice and the cost of decency. It confronts the idea of goodness, while debating the merits of second chances, as overseen by a society increasingly inclined towards punishment (sometimes at the expense of justice).

This is sly stuff from Eastwood, never one to shy away from challenging material or genre subversion (witness the way in which he disassembled his own legend in Unforgiven or his examinations of heroism and its toll in films like American Sniper or Sully). And that’s not even taking into account his dark morality take, Mystic River, to which this film bears more than a passing resemblance.

Here, the central dilemma at play belongs to its leading man, Justin Kemp (Nicholas Hoult), who is called to jury duty just as his wife. Allison Crewson (Zoey Deutch), is entering the last trimester of a high-risk pregnancy. The couple still bear the scars of a previous failure to go to term.

The trial he finds himself on involves the suspected murder of a young woman named Kendall Carter (Francesca Eastwood), who was killed on a rainswept night in Savannah, Georgia. The accused is a young man named James Sythe (Gabriel Basso), her on-off boyfriend, who was witnessed having a heated dispute with her in a bar beforehand.

Sythe also has a dubious past with gang and drug affiliations - but claims to have turned a corner, while strenuously denying the charges.

To heighten the stakes surrounding the case, the prosecutor, Faith Killebrew (Toni Collette), is running for district attorney and her campaign promises fairness for all and a tough stance on violence against women. A win would greatly boost her chances of election.

The only trouble is, Justin could well be the actual killer, given that on the same night and in the same location as the offence took place, he had hit what he believed was a deer on the way home. Justin has his own reasons for hiding his presence at the bar - and must confront his own demons and morality to reach his own decision on what to do.

He subsequently sets out to exonerate Sythe without compromising his own freedom, encouraging his fellow jurors to debate the case and really question whether the prosecution case has been proved.

In many ways, Juror #2 resembles old fashioned courtroom dramas such as 12 Angry Men, adopting a slow burn approach to the drama that invites strong performances and allows time for audience engagement. But his film crucially never feels slow.

Rather, it continually poses questions, both of its characters and the audience, while playing its cards close enough to its chest so as to keep you guessing on the outcome until the very end. And even then, its questions linger.

It’s trademark Eastwood in that regard, flirting with questions first posed by his own Inspector Callahan in Dirty Harry, as well as the way in which it holds power and authority to task. The ending feels perfectly measured for the morally dubious times in which we live.

Indeed, the complexity of the legal system and fairness in an age of social media and DIY investigating is also referenced, lending the film a deservedly contemporary edge. This is undoubtedly one of Eastwood’s best modern works.

And he’s duly rewarded with a number of fine performances, most notably from Hoult - channelling a little bit of Gregory Peck’s decency with something a little darker and more desperate - as well as Collette, balancing ambition with integrity, and Chris Messina, as her courtroom adversary and friend.

Several members of the jury also stand out for the way in which they are afforded the time to carve out their own back stories, enabling their own prejudices or prior knowledge to cloud the unbiased integrity of the room.

Part of the joy of watching Juror #2 unfold is seeing how layered and nuanced things become, with sympathies constantly shifting as perspectives change.

It’s a gripping drama, evidence of a master filmmaker still at the top of his craft - even at 94. If, as suggested, this turns out to be Eastwood’s final film (given the politics involved in the film’s distribution), then it’s a terrific final bow.

Certificate: 12A

Running time: 1hr 54mins