Oh goody, another round of making up stuff that goes on in trials. Clint Eastwood is currently 94 years old (!), and while his latest picture is considerably better than his last, :shudder:, it still made me wonder if Mr. Eastwood knows anything about jury trials beyond what he’s seen on screen.
He’s been in a few, hasn’t he? Do they never tell you the rules or the set-up? Well, why would they? I mean other than the part where roughly half of every jury trial involves explaining things to people (they tend to leave that part out of films… courtroom scenes are more dramatic with questions that start “Isn’t it true…” rather than “What time do we break …”).
I ask you, in all seriousness … assuming you’ve been on jury duty, can you imagine a murder trial that only takes a week? OK, can you imagine a murder trial where jurors know absolutely nothing about the case following the voir dire process? Ok, now try and imagine a murder case in which the jurors are allowed to investigate the crime scene(s). Finally, try to imagine a scenario -in the 21st century- by which the actual murderer is on the jury.
I’m serious. This is what you’re getting in Juror #2 (the rural juror?).
Justin (Nicholas Hoult) is a journalist. That isn’t important. Much like 99% of modern journalists, his work doesn’t matter so we don’t bother talking about it. Two things about him are important, however: 1) He’s a recovering alcoholic and 2) His wife is in the third trimester of a problem pregnancy.
Oh, and there is a third thing: he actually killed the person in the murder trial where Justin is Juror #2.
And Justin doesn’t realize it until the opening moments of the trial. You see, it was dark and rainy that night and he thought he hit a deer with his car. Funny story … the couple who were at the bar at the same time as Justin fought on camera, and when she was found dead in a creek the next day, her boyfriend was charged with murder.
Lemme stop right here to point out that in 2024, only an asshole makes a movie in which an innocent white man in on trial. I know this fits in so well to the victim narrative you jokers have made for yourselves, so lemme clue you in on something – white men are still far less likely than their peers of color to be victims of the system. To imagine otherwise is to be an asshole. And while we’re there – Trump is guilty of each and every crime he’s been indicted for. His only defense to date for any of it has been ”I get to commit crimes because I’m important.” Try watching To Kill a Mockingbird in your free time. All of you.
OK, proceeding beyond the asshole portion, this film seems to be making up things about the trial system. The second a juror, any juror, realizes he was a witn
ess to the events of the evening, his time as a juror has ended, no? Oh, we’re gonna pretend that if he lets on that he was at the bar that night, he will be linked to the murder? OK, we’ll play it that way I guess.
At this point, Justin’s motivation becomes simple: since he knows beyond a doubt the defendant is innocent, he has to convince his fellow jury members of that fact. The problem is the Assistant DA Faith Killebrew (Toni Collette) has built a damn strong case of 100% circumstantial evidence. And behind the courtroom show, the real drama is the reenactment of 12 Angry Men with Justin becoming the conscience-riddled embodiment of Henry Fonda.
I cannot deny there’s real drama in this film, and it’s the first time in a while that Eastwood has drawn me in. Even if, however, there weren’t too much silliness in the procedural moments of this film, I would still be bugged about how the ending was long telegraphed in advance. I mean, there’s no other way this film can go but to make Justin choose between justice and freedom. i.e. does he sell his soul for the life he wants or does he come clean and, thus, jeopardize all of the good things he has done and become? This is a fair and intriguing question. But if you know five minutes in that it will be asked two hours later, it kinda spoils the drama, doesn’t it? For me, that’s like taking a #2 right on screen. Thumbs down.
The guilty party was assigned to the jury
So he endeavored to quell all fury
For if self-righteous ire
Quenched vengeful desire
His soul would depart in a hurry
Rated PG-13, 113 Minutes
Director: Clint Eastwood
Writer: Justin A. Abrams
Genre: Making up stuff in the judicial branch
Type of being most likely to enjoy this film: Suckers for Oscar bait
Type of being least likely to enjoy this film: “Juror? Witness? Suspect? What’s the dif?”
