'Juror #2' Reviews: "With an intriguing premise, "Juror #2's" greatest asset is its performers"

         On November 1, 2024, Warner Bros. Pictures released Clint Eastwood's 'Juror #2', which has received predominantly positive reviews from critics. In the film, "family man Justin Kemp (Nicholas Hoult) who, while serving as a juror in a high profile murder trial, finds himself struggling with a serious moral dilemma... one he could use to sway the jury verdict and potentially convict--or free--the accused killer." The ensemble cast includes Toni Collette, Chris Messina, and J.K. Simmons. But what did the critics say?

        Matt Neglia of Next Best Picture says, "With an intriguing premise, "Juror #2's" greatest asset is its performers. In this unusual "About A Boy" reunion, Nicholas Hoult and Toni Collette produce strong work as two individuals racked by moral guilt the deeper they hurl themselves into the case."

        Pete Hammond of Deadline Hollywood Daily notes, "Eastwood, working with a fine original screenplay by Jonathan Abrams, has made one of the most compelling human dramas of his career, one that inevitably will resonate with smart adult audiences." Adding, "There are so many twists in Abrams’ cleverly constructed scenario, and amazingly they all are plausible. If they weren’t, this whole soufflé could fall, and fall hard. It stays above water. Eastwood always honors the writer and rarely does radical surgery on his film’s screenplays. Here the script has been honed nicely, and Juror #2 also has been exceptionally well cast down to the smallest roles (Geoff Miclat is the casting director)."

       Peter Debruge of Variety praises the film, stating, "It’s no coincidence the film is set in Georgia, where first-degree vehicular homicide is treated as a felony. The location gives Collette (and no one else in the cast) a chance to do a thick Southern accent, as her character alternates between court and the campaign trail. Faith is running for district attorney on a tough-on-domestic-abuse platform, and this case could push her to victory, which makes the truth as inconvenient for her as it is for Justin. (On the opposite side, Chris Messina plays the desperate-sounding public defender.)" Concluding, "Once the trial wraps and deliberations begin, Eastwood seems to be counting on our having seen “12 Angry Men,” dangling the possibility that Justin could sway the rest of the jury to acquit — or else nudge them toward a guilty verdict, letting Kendall’s boyfriend, James Sythe (Gabriel Basso), take the fall. But Jonathan Abrams’ script has a few twists up its sleeve, which seem to fit Eastwood’s more skeptical view of the legal process."

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