The next time you feel like your age might be holding you back from your ambitions, consider Clint Eastwood — a 94-year-old who just directed yet another acclaimed movie and probably wouldn’t hesitate to laugh off your excuses. His latest, which might in fact be his final film, is Juror #2. It stars Nicholas Hoult in a taut courtroom drama with a gripping storyline that underscores, among other things, the fact that the legendary director is still at the top of his game.
In the movie, which has near-perfect critics’ and audience scores on Rotten Tomatoes and is #1 on WarnerMedia’s Max streamer today, Hoult stars as a family man who’s serving as a juror in a high-profile murder trial. As juror #2, he eventually begins to struggle with a harrowing moral dilemma; Hoult’s conflicted juror comes to suspect that his own actions might have been what caused the victim’s death in the case being decided at trial. And so, he wrestles with a quandary: Should he speak up, coming forward with the truth? Or keep his mouth shut, protecting himself, and let justice take its course?
Needless to say, the director of such classics as Million Dollar Baby and Mystic River has in Juror #2 once again showcased his ability to direct a film that’s packed with tension and emotional nuance. Pretty much everyone who’s seen the film so far is calling it a late-career masterpiece, with the movie standing as a testament to the enduring talent of one of Hollywood’s most iconic filmmakers. In a recent thread posted to the subreddit r/lawyertalk, for example, one fan of the movie raved: “This film has it all: Clear and precise understanding of the legal system and a compelling drama without violating how the criminal justice system works in every state all the time. Arbitrary and capricious.”
The fact that the movie is available to conveniently stream on Max makes now a perfect time to remind yourself why Eastwood is still a force to be reckoned with. Its star, Hoult, is also on a tear at the moment, starring in the buzzy Nosferatu as well as James Gunn’s new Superman movie (in which Hoult plays Lex Luthor), in addition to his excellent work in Juror #2 — which I wouldn’t be surprised to see end up in Oscar contention.
