Just saw Juror #2 on Max, directed by Clint Eastwood (in his early 90s), and "rumored" (Wikipedia's word) to be the final movie he'll be directing. I can tell you that the movie is powerful indeed, a twisty legal thriller, reminiscent of some of Hitchcock's work -- the writer, Jonathan Abrams, deserves some of the credit for that -- and I surely hope that Eastwood is able to direct a few more.
[And there will be spoilers about the set-up ahead ... ]
The set-up is ingenuously provocative: Justin finds himself on a jury hearing and then deliberating the case of James, on trial for murdering his girlfriend, Kendall. The two were seen arguing in a nearly violent way in a bar, but Justin knows that James didn't do it, because based on where Kendall's body was found, he's horrified to realize that the deer he thought he struck on the road on a rain-swept night was actually Kendall. Justin is a fundamentally decent person. But his wife Allison, who lost their earlier twins, is now very pregnant, not to mention that he wouldn't want to go to prison anyway, so his dilemma is how can he make sure James does not go to prison for a crime he didn't commit, while Justin stays out of prison himself?
That's what I mean about the movie being Hitchcockian. In movies like Strangers on a Train, Hitchcock excelled in heroes or anti-heroics caught in the grips of world-class ethical dilemmas. Juror #2 is also lifted by excellent acting. Nicholas Hoult and Zoey Deutch -- I don't recall seeing Hoult on the screen before, and I've seen Deutch just once, in The Outfit, where she was excellent -- were just perfect as Justin and Allison. J. K. Simmons and Kiefer Sutherland play characters who are medium important, but memorable.
I won't tell you what the ending is, except it certainly leaves the door open for a sequel. If you're a fan of the order part -- aka the courtroom part -- of Law & Order and its spinoffs, you can't go wrong with Juror #2.
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Here, in case you're interested, is the true story of the time I was foreperson on a jury here in Westchester, NY.
Hell on Wheels checked in with a great episode last night, mostly because it introduced one of the best new characters in the whole series, former Confederate brother-in-arms, Syd Snow.
