Juror No. 2

Juror #2
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Clint Eastwood
Written by	Jonathan Abrams
Produced by	Clint Eastwood Tim Moore Jessica Meier Adam Goodman Matt Skiena
Starring	Nicholas Hoult Toni Collette J. K. Simmons Chris Messina Zoey Deutch Kiefer Sutherland
Cinematography	Yves Bélanger
Edited by	David S. Cox Joel Cox
Music by	Mark Mancina
Production companies	Dichotomy Films Gotham Group Malpaso Productions
Distributed by	Warner Bros. Pictures
Release dates	October 27, 2024 (2024-10-27) (AFI Fest) November 1, 2024 (2024-11-01) (United States)
Running time	114 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	~$35 million
Box office	$5.1 million

Juror #2 is a 2024 American legal thriller film co-produced and directed by Clint Eastwood and written by Jonathan Abrams. The film stars Nicholas Hoult, Toni Collette, J. K. Simmons, and Kiefer Sutherland.

Juror #2 had its world premiere at AFI Fest on October 27, 2024, and was released in the United States by Warner Bros. Pictures on November 1, 2024. The film received generally positive reviews for its narrative and Hoult's performance.

Plot

Journalist and recovering alcoholic Justin Kemp is called up for jury duty on a case concerning the death of Kendall Carter, who, a year prior, had a fight with her boyfriend, James Sythe, at a local bar, and was later found dead under a bridge. Sythe was charged with her murder. Hoping to attract voters with a high-profile domestic violence conviction in her run for district attorney, Faith Killebrew takes on the role of case prosecutor. Witnesses confirm Sythe was drunk and disorderly on the night in question and that he followed Kendall after she stormed off. Additionally, a coroner testifies that Kendall's injuries were consistent with a battery by a blunt instrument, and an eyewitness claims they saw Sythe at the spot where Kendall's body was thrown from.

Justin becomes convinced he might have killed Kendall when, on the night of her death, he hit something with his car after nearly relapsing into alcoholism at the local bar Sythe and Carter were at. Assuming that he had hit a deer and is unable to find it, Justin drove home. Horrified that an innocent man might be convicted, Justin goes to his Alcoholics Anonymous sponsor, Larry, for advice. Larry, a defense attorney, informs Justin that due to his prior DUI offenses, no one will believe he was sober, and Killebrew will put him in prison. Larry adds that the jury must reach a verdict: Killebrew has tied this case to her election campaign and will try the case as many times as necessary, so holding out and forcing a mistrial will not save Sythe.

Justin resolves to argue for a not-guilty verdict, but Sythe's public defender, Eric Resnick, is overworked and makes several errors, failing to offer a competing medical opinion and not raising questions about poor nighttime visibility. Most jurors favor a conviction, with retired detective Harold arguing, at Justin's suggestion to examine the case closely, that the eyewitness testimony could have been skewed by confirmation bias. Another juror confirms there would have been low visibility and a medical student points out that Kendall's injuries suggest she was the victim of a hit and run accident.

In light of all this, one of the other jurors posits Kendall's death could have been a hit-and-run, and Justin begins to grow worried that he may be identified as the killer. Harold breaks the jury rules by collecting data on body shop visits following Kendall's death, and the next day, says he has narrowed the search to fifteen vehicles, including Justin's. When presented with this, Justin strategically reveals Harold's research to the court and has him disqualified from the jury.

Killebrew grows conflicted about the case, realizing that law enforcement primed the eyewitness to identify Sythe at trial. Despite her duty of candor, she refuses to withdraw the charge. She takes the repair records and visits each of the vehicles' owners. While Justin's vehicle is on the list, it is registered in her pregnant wife's name Ally, and Ally parrots Justin's cover story to Killebrew. Ally later confronts Justin, who confesses to having been in the bar that night, without drinking, and repeats his story to her that he hit a deer, but on another road. She is skeptical, but being pregnant and having previously miscarried, keeps silent to protect her family.

After a fellow juror refuses to change his vote, Justin convinces the remaining jurors to vote to convict although he does not appear in the courtroom when the verdict is given. Sythe is sentenced to life without parole, and Killebrew finds out Justin is Ally's husband. After the sentencing, Justin sits down with Killebrew and vaguely suggests that if someone else accidentally killed Kendall, that person would not warrant harsh punishment. Killebrew argues that with an innocent man convicted, it is no longer an accident. Justin points out that were Killebrew to go after the real killer after pushing so hard for Sythe to be convicted, she would lose her position as DA, and a "good man" would see his life and family destroyed. He implores Killebrew to leave the case alone, adding that Sythe had a history of violence.

Ally delivers the baby safely, Killebrew is elected DA, and Resnick never follows up on Harold's leads. Justin sells his car to destroy his connection to the crime, but as he and Ally are playing with their daughter, Killebrew knocks on their door.

Cast

Nicholas Hoult plays the eponymous juror.

• Nicholas Hoult as Justin Kemp, a journalist called up for jury duty
• Zoey Deutch as Allison "Ally" Crewson, Kemp's wife and a local schoolteacher
• Toni Collette as Faith Killebrew, the Assistant District Attorney prosecuting the Carter case
• Chris Messina as Eric Resnick, the public defender
• Kiefer Sutherland as Larry Lasker, Kemp's Alcoholics Anonymous sponsor and, later, defense attorney
• Gabriel Basso as James Michael Sythe, the suspect
• Francesca Eastwood as Kendall Carter, the deceased
• J. K. Simmons as Harold, a former homicide inspector
• Amy Aquino as Judge Thelma Hollub
• Leslie Bibb as Denice Aldworth, the jury foreperson
• Cedric Yarbrough as Marcus, a juror
• Adrienne C. Moore as Yolanda, a juror
• Chikako Fukuyama as Keiko, a juror
• Zele Avradopoulos as Irene, a juror
• Drew Scheid as Brody, a juror

Production

Clint Eastwood was 93 years old when production began for Juror No. 2.

It was announced in April 2023 that filmmaker Clint Eastwood had set the project as his next film, with Nicholas Hoult and Toni Collette in negotiations to star. They were confirmed the following month, with Zoey Deutch and Kiefer Sutherland also joining the cast, and Gabriel Basso entering negotiations for a role. In June, Leslie Bibb was added to the cast. In November, Chris Messina joined the cast while Basso was confirmed. J. K. Simmons, Amy Aquino, Adrienne C. Moore, Cedric Yarbrough, Chikako Fukuyama, Onix Serrano and Francesca Eastwood were added in December.

For Collette and Hoult, it would be their reunion on the big screen 22 years after playing mother and son in About a Boy (2002). For Deutch and Hoult, it would be the second time they have been seen on screen, after working together on the film Rebel in the Rye (2017).

Production began in June 2023, when Eastwood was 93 years old, with filming locations including Savannah, Georgia and Los Angeles, before it was suspended in July due to the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike. Production resumed in November upon the conclusion of the strike.

Post-production had wrapped by April 2024. Mark Mancina composed the score for the film; he previously worked on Eastwood's Cry Macho (2021).

Release

Juror #2 premiered as the closing film of the 38th edition of the film festival AFI Fest on October 27, 2024; the event continues a long-standing relationship between Eastwood and the American Film Institute (AFI), which previously launched the world premieres of American Sniper (2014), J. Edgar (2011), and Richard Jewell (2019) at the festival.

Warner Bros. Pictures initially envisioned Juror #2 as a direct-to-streaming release on Max. However, Warner Bros. gave the film a limited release on November 1, 2024. The film was released in fewer than 50 domestic theaters, and Warner Bros. is expected to not report box office results. Variety characterized Warner Bros.' decision to deny the film a wide release as "a peculiar approach for a filmmaker who still has commercial appeal", noting that Eastwood had been making films for Warner Bros. for 50 years and was still delivering major commercial successes, including American Sniper (2014), Sully (2016), and The Mule (2018). Vulture's Bilge Ebiri suggested that Warner Bros.' decision implied deep problems with the modern-day studio system, suggesting that "Eastwood, for all his genre cred and iconic stature, is one of the few major filmmakers left making studio-financed adult dramas. To the modern studio executive, he must look like a glitch in the matrix — not an artist to be protected, but an error to be corrected."

The film received a wide release in the UK, showing at more than 300 cinemas nationwide.

Reception

Box office

In the United States and Canada, the film opened in 35 theaters and grossed an estimated $90,000 on its first day and $260–270,000 over the weekend; Warner Bros. did not report official numbers, in an effort to, according to Deadline Hollywood, "save face" for Eastwood "by avoiding any negative box office headlines." Internationally, the film grossed $5 million from six territories, including $3.1 million in France.

Critical response

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 92% of 100 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 7.1/10. The website's consensus reads: "A legal thriller with a heavy conscience, Juror #2 is less a summation of Clint Eastwood's storied directorial career than another terrific reminder of his knack for plain-spoken drama." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 73 out of 100, based on 34 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.

Vulture's Bilge Ebiri commented that Juror #2 inverts many tropes of the courtroom drama genre, writing that while in an ordinary legal thriller, "the system usually prevailed" and "justice would be served, even if it took a few extra tries," Eastwood's drama is a film "about how the system can fail even as everybody tries their best." He added that Eastwood's perspective is mirrored by "own growing cynicism about the effectiveness of [government and legal] institutions."

Several critics noted that Juror #2 did not fit a traditional political narrative. IndieWire's Christian Zilko called the film "one of the best studio films of 2024," writing that while the film "introduces a reverence for law, order, and due process that seems to suit a lifelong conservative, it eventually reveals a more apolitical patriotism that’s uniquely Eastwoodian." The New Yorker's Richard Brody agreed that while Eastwood is "one of the most distinctive and original political filmmakers ... the politics [the film] brings to life is essentially, and forcefully, anti-political. ... Eastwood treats celebrity as a diabolical tool and sees the gap between publicity and reality as a trap door to hell."

The New York Times' Manohla Dargis praised the film and Hoult's performance, but commented that the visuals were more functional than impressive. Variety's Peter Debruge added that while "as always, Eastwood respects our intelligence," the film "ranks among his quietest films, forgoing spectacle in favor of self-reflection."

External links

• Juror No. 2 at IMDb