New film directed by Clint Eastwood and released on Max.
This isn’t a film review. I will leave that to Slowguy. The basic plot is that a man is chosen to be on the jury for a trial of an another man accused of murdering his girlfriend. The juror (Juror #2) realizes he might have very pertinent information related to the guilt or innocence of the accused and the conundrum he faces in coming forth with that info or not.
*** SPOILER - DO NOT READ ANY FURTHER IF YOU HAVEN’T SEEN THE MOVIE - SPOILER ***
My thoughts…
- I really liked the premise of the plot and the dilemma the juror faces when he realizes he meet be the reason the girl is dead.
- JK Simmons’s character. What a potential juror does or did for a living is one of the first and most basic questions asked during the voir dire process. Granted, it was addressed in the movie by the judge to the defense. Real world that would never happen as that question is always asked.
- Kiefer Sutherland’s character. Yikes! His legal advice was bad and likely criminal and would get him disbarred. His point regarding Hoult’s character’s previous alcohol problems is a salient one but everything else was cringe worthy.
- How the fuck would the ME not know or at least consider the possibility the woman was struck by a car and knocked over the bridge? What about the police?
- Toni Collette’s ADA/DA character. Towards the end of the movie she is basically convinced the accused didn’t do it but sits back and lets the jury convict the guy. With the final scene I guess we’re lead to believe she’s going to make amends for that but there’s zero chance they could convict Juror #2.