Tonight's Movie: Juror #2 (2024) - A Warner Bros. Blu-ray Review

Over the last few years I've become increasingly interested in the career of Clint Eastwood, both in front of and behind the camera.

Eastwood, who turned 94 last May, most recently directed JUROR #2 (2024), which was released around Christmas last year; it had an inexplicably short exhibition window in a limited number of theaters and I wasn't able to catch it then.

It was released on an "MOD" Blu-ray earlier this month, and I was glad to have the chance to see it.

That said, while being a "glass is half full" viewer and an Eastwood admirer, I watched much of this movie's 114 minutes in a state of disbelief, as I couldn't believe the plotting, especially the way Jonathan Abrams' script consistently skirted around the way trials are actually conducted.

Abrams comes right up to the line of acknowledging the story problems by working mentions of the issues into the script, but it really didn't work, at least not for me.

In order to address my issues with the film, I'm going to talk about problems I had with the plot with more specificity than I often do. Please consider this a spoiler alert for anyone who doesn't wish to know the plot to stop reading here and come back to compare notes after seeing the movie.

As the movie begins, recovering alcoholic Justin Kemp (Nicholas Hoult) and his wife Allison (Zoey Deutch) are nearing the due date for their first child. It's an anxious time, as it's a high-risk pregnancy after Allison previously miscarried twins.

Justin is called to jury service and is unable to be excused despite being near the baby's due date. He's selected to serve on a trial in which the defendant (Gabriel Basso) is accused of following his girlfriend (Francesca Eastwood, daughter of the director) after a barroom argument and running her down deliberately with his car.

As Justin listens to the attorneys present their opening statements, he realizes the details sound strangely familiar...he was in the bar around that time frame -- not drinking -- and remembers thinking he hit a deer on his way home, but when he stopped his car he couldn't find anything he'd hit, just some car damage.

Justin goes to see Larry (Kiefer Sutherland), the head of his AA group, asking him to be his attorney. Larry warns Justin off turning himself in, saying no one will believe he wasn't drinking and that he'll be locked up for years, which horrifies Justin given he's about to be a father.

This was my first issue with the film, as Justin correctly suggests that turning himself in as soon as he realizes there's a problem will cut in his favor. I was surprised at his lawyer essentially counseling him to remain silent, all the more so as given their AA relationship, one would think Larry would realize the kind of pressure the situation would put on Justin to stay sober.

Coming forward immediately and throwing himself at the mercy of the court would have been Justin's best option, but even in a later scene Larry advises Justin of tactical reasons for his benefit that the jury needs to avoid a mistrial and come to a verdict. Of course, Justin discussing deliberations outside the jury with someone else, even his attorney, is a huge no-no; Justin would have heard those instructions and his lawyer certainly knew as well.

Of course, if Justin went to the judge with what he knew, there would be no movie, so I was willing to cut the film some slack on these issues. However, another part of the story, on top of the previously mentioned weaknesses, became so absurd it marred the movie for me.

Granted, as I wrote in my review of 12 ANGRY MEN (1957), I'm very knowledgeable about the ins and outs of murder trials due to proofreading trial transcripts for decades. But even family members without that background recognized the problems.

Harold (J.K. Simmons), one of the jurors, identifies himself to his fellow jurors during deliberations as a retired homicide detective. When asked why he didn't tell the lawyers, he says "No one asked." Harold also visits the scene of the crime and starts doing literal detective work on the case.

First, asking jurors if they or family members have legal or law enforcement backgrounds during voir dire is standard practice. It's inconceivable that not one but both attorneys didn't ask this question when selecting jurors for a murder trial. It's also extremely common for jurors to be asked if there's anything the court and attorneys should know that hasn't already been asked.

It's also a typical instruction not to investigate the scene of the crime but evaluate only the evidence presented to the jury in court.

As a detective, Harold would have sat at counsel table during murder trials over the course of his career, not simply testified as a witness, and he would personally know all of the above. The fact that he would hide his background, go to the scene, and then start doing research was simply laughable. He ultimately tells the District Attorney (Toni Collette) he felt he was upholding his oath as a police officer over his oath as a juror, but no. He doesn't get a free pass for that. He's lucky the judge (Amy Aquino) didn't hold him in contempt.

Later on, the jury visits the scene of the crime/accident and they are instructed by the judge not to discuss the case while they're there. So what happens but a lengthy discussion between Justin and another juror (Cedric Yarbrough), violating not only the judge's specific order but the general order typically given to juries to only deliberate when the entire jury is together in the jury room.

The District Attorney's job is to seek justice, whatever that might be, not guilt, so I didn't have a problem with her digging deeper into evidence while the jury deliberated, but after all that went before, we also had to go along with her not realizing that Allison was the wife of a juror when she interviewed her about car damage repairs which took place around the time of the "murder." Granted, Allison and Justin went by different last names, but Justin's name wasn't anywhere in the documentation for ownership or repair? It was just a little too cute having to buy that on top of everything else.

And I haven't even mentioned the film's open-ended, ambiguous final shots, which suggest Justin's life is about to grow more complicated...

Like 12 ANGRY MEN, a film admired by many which I strongly dislike, the entire plot is a house of cards which should have collapsed at any of several different points. The acting is fine and keeps the viewer watching till the end, but I really don't know why they chose this script, unless it was the chance to work with the great Clint Eastwood on potentially his final film. (We'll find out...!)

In the movie's favor, it's not boring, I just found it very silly throwing so much logic and common practice completely out the window. I know a number of people who've enjoyed it so "Your mileage may vary," as the saying goes.

The movie was filmed by Yves Belanger and scored by Mark Mancina.

The widescreen print is excellent, and sound quality is also good. This is a fine way to see the film if one is inclined to check it out.

There are no extras on this "manufactured on demand" disc, but it does come with a digital code to access a streaming copy via the Movies Anywhere site. The disc does include optional subtitles.

Thanks to Warner Bros. and Allied Vaughn for providing a review copy of this Blu-ray. JUROR #2 may be ordered from Movie Zyng, Amazon, and other online retailers.

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