| Every aspect of justice is explored in Juror #2, a courtroom drama from veteran filmmaker Clint Eastwood. Justin (Nicholas Hoult) and his wife Allison (Zoey Deutch) have a baby on the way when Justin is selected for jury duty of a murder trial. “Don’t worry,” he tells her, “It will be quick trial.” It’s also a high-profile case with lead prosecutor, Faith Killebrew (Toni Collette), currently running for district attorney. | | 2024
Directed by: Clint Eastwood
Screenplay by: Jonathan A. Abrams
Starring: Nicholas Hoult, Toni Collette, Chris Messina, J.K. Simmons, Zoey Deutch
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It is supposed to be open and shut, with the motive on camera and an eye witness on record; there is just one problem – they have the wrong guy. The next big problem is the guy who did do it, is currently in the jury.
In addition to a very compelling plot and story, let’s get into what makes this as smart as it is. Justin is not a bad guy. He didn’t commit murder and he didn’t even know he did anything wrong. When he puts the pieces together, he immediately goes to a lawyer friend to do the right thing. The current justice system does not care about doing the right thing; so he’ll have to settle for the next best thing which is not sending an innocent man to jail. Turns out the justice system doesn’t care about that much either.
This is just as much a psychological / moral dilemma drama as it is a courtroom drama. The case is easy, most of the facts are simple and self-evident. All Justin has to do is use the truth (a partial truth, not the whole truth) and have the jury find reasonable doubt in a murder conviction. The current justice system also doesn’t care much about truth.
A stellar and stacked cast each have a role to play in highlighting the many imperfections in how justice is used to find truth and closure in the United States. The prosecuting attorney Killebrew and the defence attorney Resnick (Chris Messina) are friends from law school. Faith is meticulously put together with high-end tailored clothes, an extremely expensive sports car and a million dollar campaign for DA. Resnick is noticeably less kempt and drinks at the local bar. The district attorney’s office is funded a lot better than the public defender’s office. If you want to have a fair trial, you have to be rich.
Next we get to Oscar-winning actor J.K. Simmons in a small but pivotal role. The only other Jury member who believes the defendant is innocent. He’s a retired detective so he decides he’s going to solve the case for the cops who didn’t do it right in the first place. But, of course, the justice system doesn’t like that either. Jury members aren’t allowed to do that. The next most prominent jury member is Cedric Yarbrough as Marcus who brings in questions of redemption, who is capable of redemption and who deserves it.
This is the type of film that rewards viewers for paying attention. There are so many details that pop up throughout the movie. It also plays with memory a bit – not the viewer’s memory – but all of the main characters and the eye witness, remembering events from a year earlier (a typical timeline for a murder trial) – is their memory accurate, what aspects might be misremembered? Yet another thing the justice system doesn’t take into account.
Juror #2 is a brilliant movie that weaves in every imperfection of the justice system into a smart and tightly written courtroom drama that tries to end on a fair note – as close as we can get to a happy ending while still believing that justice can eventually be served.
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