Blu-ray Review: Juror #2

Blu-ray Reviews, Reviews, Top Story

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There was a point in the ’90s when courtroom dramas were my favourite genre and year after year there seemed to be an abundance to choose from, be it original or adaptations. Times have changed and the courtroom thriller just isn’t what it once was in Hollywood, at least when it comes to big screen releases. Juror #2 is the latest film by filmmaker Clint Eastwood, who at 94 isn’t letting age slow him down, with this being his eighth time behind the camera in the past decade – and in two of those he was also the lead actor. But I digress, Juror #2 is the subject on trial here so let’s bring the focus back.

Juror #2 stars Nicholas Hoult as Justin Kemp, a young man with a pregnant wife who is nearing the end of a high-risk pregnancy. While he’d just like to focus on that aspect of his life, he is summoned for jury duty and must answer the call. He does try to get out of it by mentioning the precarious situation his wife is in; however, the judge denies him and all but shines a light on him to be the perfect candidate for the role of juror. He’s named juror #2 and placed in an apparently high-profile, yet almost guaranteed open-and-shut murder case where a man is accused of leaving a bar arguing with his girlfriend, then proceeding to beat her and throw her over a bridge to her death in a ravine below.

The twist? Justin realizes upon hearing the opening arguments that he was there at the same bar that same night, and when he left the bar, he was distraught and distracted and he hits something on his way home, but it was so dark and the rain was coming down so hard that he couldn’t see what it was and assumed it was a deer. But now he’s not so sure and his conscience engages in a battle where he must try and piece together what happened that night so that a potentially innocent man doesn’t go to prison – and neither does he.

Juror #2 really rides on its leading man, as the wrong actor would just flatline the movie from the start. Hoult is someone who has grown up in the business and continues to do great work and this is some of his best. He takes on the emotional burden of everything that Justin has been through and everything he potentially has to lose and you can feel that radiate through his performance. His work here is what ups the tension consistently, as the first two acts really do a great job of revealing information in a way that feels natural, yet doesn’t give anything away. The answers we’re searching for, and Justin is searching for are always just out of reach, but his uncertainty of what happened makes him believe that it’s up to him to at least give the defendant a fair shake during deliberation.

Eastwood has focused a lot on guilt in recent films, and moral dilemmas, and he paces this script by Jonathan Abrams out in a way where it’s truly engaging from start to finish. Now, while I do say and believe that, I will say without any spoilers that the film does falter somewhat in the third act. Not enough to ruin things, but it almost feels rushed compared to the journey to get to this point. We’ve had a slow burn to the story thus far and the guilt that Justin feels for what he potentially has done is clearly weighing on him. It’s been nicely paced, the tension building, and it’s really unclear as to what way the story may go – and then it just begins to wrap itself up really quickly and we’re done.

The best way I can explain why this doesn’t work for me without spoiling anything is that we don’t really know how everything goes from point A to point B at a pivotal point in the film because it happens offscreen. I’m not talking about some sort of murder or anything, I’m just talking about more deliberations. It’s like we were in one place with them, and then a few scenes happen where nothing that’d truly affect the mindset of anyone but Justin (because everything that happens affects his mindset, so again, no spoilers) and then we jump ahead to where key things would’ve had to happen to get to where we end up and it’s not clear how that would’ve happened and it just kind of deflates the entire build and leaves us to simply focus on things being wrapped up.

I do still recommend Juror #2 to those who enjoy courtroom dramas, as there’s a lot to applaud here. We’ve got Hoult doing fine work, and Toni Collette, J.K. Simmons, Chris Messina, Zoey Deutch and Kiefer Sutherland all lifting the supporting characters to respectable and engaging heights. The story is full of drama and suspense and it’s fun not knowing what may have actually happened, all while bits are revealed as our main character remembers them. Things do wrap up a bit too quickly without any reasonable explanation, and there is a fairly cliché thing that happens that we as the audience are just like, “Why?” Or at least I was, because you just know what it’s opening the door for; however, it’s not really enough to wreck the film entirely, and with courtroom dramas being so few and far between these days, I’ll sentence this one to worth watching once if you’re a fan of the genre. Court adjourned.

Blu-ray Video and Audio Review:

This 1080p transfer delivers the goods, and with no 4K release on the horizon and this being the main release that Eastwood fans will have to pick up to add to their collection they could’ve done a lot worse. This is actually a really good-looking movie, with some wonderfully handled cinematography that is done justice on Blu-ray with some dark, clean night shots…well, as clean as incredibly rainy night scenic shots can be. As a whole there’s nothing distracting that takes away from the tension the film is building up throughout. As a whole this is a strong visual transfer that benefits the dramatic nature of the story.

On the audio side of things we’ve got a Dolby Atmos release, which you’d think would lend itself better to a film that’s a bit less dialogue driven; however, the sound and extra details are appreciated, as it’s nice to be transferred to the bar with music coming from a jukebox on one side of the room, while a glass is breaking on another as far as our speakers are concerned. The dialogue is clean and clear, front and center and there’s never any straining to hear what’s going on at any point. As a whole this is a strong audio and visual transfer for a film that was all but tossed onto a streaming service for its release, so kudos for that.

Special Features:

It would’ve been nice to get a bit of a backstage pass here and to hear from some of the actors, but Eastwood is 94 and I’d wager that while they could’ve shot some special features around him that having the focus be set on getting the movie shot, edited and put out is what was key here. So there’s nothing on the special features front for this release.

Disclaimer: A review copy of this Blu-ray was sent to me to cover in honest and truthful fashion.

Warner Bros. Pictures Presents Juror #2. Directed by: Clint Eastwood. Written by: Jonathan Abrams. Starring: Nicholas Hoult, Toni Collette, Kiefer Sutherland, J.K. Simmons, Chris Messina, Zoey Deutch. Running time: 114 Minutes. Rating: PG-13. Released on Blu-ray: Feb. 4, 2025.

Brendan Campbell was here when Inside Pulse Movies began, and he’ll be here when it finishes - in 2012, when a cataclysmic event wipes out the servers, as well as everyone else on the planet other than John Cusack and those close to him. Brendan’s the #1 supporter of Keanu Reeves, a huge fan of popcorn flicks and a firm believer that sheer entertainment can take a film a long way. He currently resides in Canada, where, for reasons stated above, he’s attempting to get closer to John Cusack.