His previous feature film, Cry Machohad been a big failure at the box office. However, Clint Eastwood does not lack talent when it comes to directing. He is one of those rare Hollywood actors who have fully succeeded in their time behind the camera and can today claim a style of their own. Having become an essential figure in neo-classical cinema, with his respect for traditional forms, his realistic and contemporary themes and his pessimistic, even conservative tone, the ninety-four-year-old filmmaker could well deliver to us with Juror #2 the last film of his career.
The story follows a young man, Justin Kemp, who is unwillingly selected to become a juror in a murder trial. While the Georgia state court recounts in detail the facts found, Kemp realizes that he is the real culprit and that the victim's companion, wrongly accused, is preparing to take the blame in his place. Seized with scruples, “juror no. 2” will then try, as best he can, to guide the opinion of those who, like him, have to deliberate on this affair, with a view to exonerating the accused and obtain his release. Objective difficult to achieve insofar as the companion of the victim, rustic and violent, appears to everyone as the ideal culprit…
A balancing act
If we are willing to put aside the scriptural implausibility of the initial premise (the culprit is among the jurors), Clint Eastwood's latest film is a well-made thriller. Reminding Found guiltyreleased in 1999, the story seems mainly to be inspired by Twelve angry menby Sidney Lumet, with the difference that no miracle – we quickly understand – is to be expected from the verdict. Disposed, despite everything, to want to save the accused, Justin Kemp has no other choice but to tack if he wishes to both do good and personally remain off the radar of justice – the whole point of scenario being precisely to observe this balancing act and the limit beyond which the main character chooses to favor his fate… Psychologist, fine connoisseur of human nature, Clint Eastwood shows us that, past a certain point, all justifications are good to no longer have to get wet for others and save your own skin. After all, one might think, isn't my life more exemplary than that of my neighbor? Do I really have to pay for a single mistake made when I am fundamentally a good person, my life is in good shape and I am even preparing to become a father? And the other, opposite, what has he done that was worthwhile in his life? Isn't he a bad guy, deep down?
Rather fitting, ultimately, in its exploration of human disgust, in the evolution of its story and in its conclusion, Juror #2 proves to be honest entertainment but a minor work in Clint Eastwood's filmography. A film which cannot even claim any originality in its staging as it is so prosaic. We would like to see the filmmaker end his career on something bigger, more ambitious, on the level of Cas Richard Jewellreleased in 2020. Maybe there’s still time.
3 stars out of 5
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