Start the week with a film: Clint Eastwood’s ‘Juror #2’ makes a solid case for itself

In Clint Eastwood’s 40th film, restraint is all around. The acting is subdued. The writing is stripped of flourishes. The staging is as plain as a TV show. If Juror #2 is potentially 94-year-old Clint Eastwood’s last movie, there is neither fuss nor a sense of self-importance.

Juror #2 has the ‘let’s just get on with it’ quality that has characterised Eastwood’s movies in recent years. Eastwood relies on a compelling script by Jonathan Abrams and an efficient cast that includes Nicholas Hoult, Toni Collette and Chris Messina. The legal drama has a neat premise too: a juror begins to wonder if he is responsible for the crime that has been pinned on the man he is supposed to convict.

Justin (Nicholas Hoult) is a recovering alcoholic who’s expecting a child with his wife Allison (Zoey Deutch). After being called up to jury duty, Justin is wracked by doubt over whether James (Gabriel Basso) actually killed his girlfriend after a drunken brawl. Did James push his lover into a ditch – or was Justin who ran over her by mistake?

Public prosecutor Faith (Toni Collette) wants to win the case since it will boost her chances of winning a district attorney election. Defence lawyer Eric (Chris Messina) is convinced of his...

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