Review: Juror #2

Official synopsis: While serving as a juror in a high-profile murder trial, Justin (Nicholas Hoult) finds himself struggling with a serious moral dilemma, one he could use to sway the jury verdict and potentially convict or free the wrong killer.

It's been a minute since I've even bothered with a Clint Eastwood movie. I tend to be lukewarm on them at best (except for Changeling, which is my easy favorite) but I'm a sucker for a good courtroom drama and Juror #2 is packed with actors I love like Hoult, Toni Collette, JK Simmons Chris Messina and Adrienne C. Moore.

For the majority of its runtime, Juror #2 is a solid film. Justin is a soon to be first time dad, and recovering alcoholic. He obviously had his demons, which makes him see this trial in a different way than his other juror members do initially. But every now and then, the film makes a decision that just seems a little too ridiculous. Like how no one brings up that the case they are working on could be a hit and run until they get into deliberation. I find it hard to believe that that defense attorney wouldn't suggest that at all. JK Simmons plays an ex cop on the panel, and just when you think his character is going to facilitate a huge change, we never see him again. Then there's a truly amazing moment where the DA googles "name and husband" and is immediately fed with pictures of the two. Unless you're famous, Google doesn't do that.

It's distracting moments like those that stop this from being truly great and it just feels like the writer and director are out of touch. They definitely don't shy away from stereotypes in the jury pool, that's for sure. 

Still, for a film that was dumped directly to streaming, this is worth the watch even with those small grievances. Juror #2 is now available to stream on Max

Grade: B