Juror #2

Directed by Clint Eastwood, Juror #2 follows Nicholas Hoult’s Justin Kemp as he makes a shocking discovery while serving as a juror on a high-profile murder trial. It’s clear, ultimately, that Juror #2 fares best in its surprising, briskly-paced opening stretch, as filmmaker Eastwood, armed with a screenplay by Jonathan Abrams, does a terrific job of initially establishing the central character and the admittedly engrossing scenario in which he finds himself – with the compulsively watchable atmosphere heightened by the peppering of familiar faces within the supporting cast. (J.K. Simmons, playing a fellow juror here, is an obvious standout among such scene-stealers as Toni Collette, Chris Messina, and Kiefer Sutherland.) There’s little doubt, then, that Juror #2‘s overall impact is hampered by Eastwood’s predictably lackadaisical approach to the material, as the picture is rarely, if ever, as tense or suspenseful as one might’ve anticipated based on the premise (ie this is the type of plot that’s virtually crying out for a more thriller-like sensibility) – with the sporadic arms-length feel perpetuated by Yves Bélanger’s distressingly bland visuals and a somewhat padded-out midsection. Still, Juror #2, which does boast a terrific final stretch, generally comes off as an entertaining-enough endeavor that stands in sharp contrast to most of the lowest-common-denominator junk flooding multiplexes (ie this is a refreshingly adult-oriented piece of work).

**1/2 out of ****