Juror # 2

Year of release : 2024

Run time : 1h54m

Genre : Legal Thriller / Drama

Cast : Nicholas Hoult, Toni Collette, Zoey Deutch, Kiefer Sutherland, J.K. Simmons

Director : Clint Eastwood

 

Justin Kemp, a journalist and a recovering alcoholic, is called for jury duty on a case concerning the death of a young woman. The year before, she and her boyfriend had a fight at a bar, and she was later found dead under a bridge. The boyfriend is charged with her murder.

Hoping to get voters with a high profile,domestic violence conviction in her run for district attorney in Savannah,Georgia, Faith Killebrew is the prosecutor on the case.

 

On the stand, witnesses say the boyfriend, Sythe, was drunk and disorderly that night, and some of them have videos to prove it. They also say he followed her after they had a fight outside the bar in the pouring rain. The coroner also testifies her injuries match a battery with a blunt instrument. A man who lives near the bridge she was thrown off, testifies he saw him that night at the scene of the crime.

Justin realizes he was at that bar that night, and while paying attention to a message on his phone, he hit something with his car. Although he stopped and got out of the car checking to see what he hit, looking around, not finding anything, and seeing the sign for deer, he assumed he hit a deer, and drove off.

Afraid an innocent man might go to jail, Justin asks his AA sponsor, a defense lawyer, what to do. He tells him he could get 30 years to life in prison for the offense. He then tries to pursue the other jurors, who are sure Sythe is guilty, to give a 'not guilty' verdict.

The movie was a good, entertaining legal thriller, who kept me watching and guessing the lead's next move. The characters are well drawn, and you get to feel for the lead, fearing for his faith. He has to deal with what he finds in the trial, his drunk past, his wife who has a high risk pregnancy (the year before when he had the accident, he almost relapsed, as she miscarried the twins she was carrying,late in the pregnancy..) ,as his guilty conscience is eating away at him, not knowing what to do.

The lady prosecutor, although at first she just seems she's there for an easy win, wants to know the truth, as she is given new evidence by Justin and another juror who used to be a detective, and starts investigating herself. What she finds might not be favorable for Justin.

Although the movie received positive reviews and was named one of the top 10 movies of 2024, by the National Board of Review, it made only 24.8 million dollars, against a budget of 35 million.

The movie is for rent / sale on Amazon, AppleTv, Sky Store.

Rating : Worth a watch !