JUROR #2

Clint Eastwood's swan song is a bit of a conundrum: Justin Kemp (Nicholas Hoult) is selected as a juror for a vehicular manslaughter trial. But there's one problem: he's the person who killed the young victim, Kendall Carter (Francesca Eastwood), and not her boyfriend James Michael Sythe (Gabriel Basso), who's on trial for her murder. Throw in Justin's fresh marriage to his wife Allison (Zoey Deutch) and his first born on the way and you've got a mix between TWELVE ANGRY MEN and Alfred Hitchcock. The story is incredibly interesting as the story unfolds within the confines of the courtroom, the audience eagerly anticipating how this'll end. However, the trial is over rather quickly and the juror deliberation becomes the focus for the rest of the film, with Justin obviously the hold out on the panel. Will he do the right thing and save James' life or will he remain silent to save his own? For starters, I love the moral dichotomy of the story. I was invested in the film until the trial ended and then the juror deliberated as that seemed to slow the pacing down for me. I was a bit surprised at the outcome but loved the final shot Eastwood leaves us with as it is powerful. If this is indeed his final film, I'm glad he was able to go out on this note rather than on CRY MACHO; however, I disappointingly didn't enjoy this as much as others have. 6/10