‘Juror #2’ Review: Clint Eastwood’s Taut, Understated Courtroom Drama Ends Up a Mistrial

The movie overcomes a difficult-to-swallow premise with unsentimental filmmaking and a fine lead performance from Nicholas Hoult before being dismissed on technicalities

Nicholas Hoult in "Juror #2" (WBD)
Nicholas Hoult in "Juror #2" (WBD)

Clint Eastwood’s 40th directorial effort is a twisty courtroom drama-slash-thriller that finds a good man in an impossible situation – both in the sense of “How can he get out of this?” and “Well, that’s highly improbable.” Then the movie settles into a taut, understated good time with a strong lead performance … before stumbling confoundingly at the finish line.

“Juror #2” finds magazine journalist Justin (Nicholas Hoult) lovingly helping his wife (Zoey Deutch) through a delicate pregnancy when he’s called for jury duty. To put this in the least spoilery way possible, he shockingly discovers that, through an extremely unlikely set of circumstances, he’s intimately involved in a case that concerns a capital crime, with the defendant’s life in the balance.

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