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From: Rhino <no_offline_contact@example.com>
Newsgroups: rec.arts.tv
Subject: Juror #2: A Recommendation
Date: Tue, 21 Jan 2025 21:28:49 -0500
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I watched Clint Eastwood's latest film, Juror #2, last night and wanted 
to urge everyone to watch it. I thought it was a very good exploration 
of honour and cowardice, all via the vehicle of a courtroom drama.

I *really* don't want to say much about this film for fear of spoiling 
the surprise when you watch it so I'll give a brief outline of the 
situation.

A woman has been found dead in a creek at the side of a road. She has 
only been dead a few hours. Cause of death is an undetermined blunt 
instrument which has not been found. It is soon determined that she was 
at a roadhouse on the road beside which she was found. Witnesses 
recounted an argument that she'd had with her boyfriend. They'd argued 
in the roadhouse and he'd smashed a beer bottle but hadn't hurt her 
physically. She left and he followed her out, arguing further out in the 
parking lot. She broke it off with him and walked off in a huff, 
apparently heading home. The boyfriend had gotten in his car and set off 
in the same  direction. The boyfriend had a history of being in a 
violent gang but had cleaned up his act in recent years. The boyfriend 
is arrested and charged with murder.

A pool of potential jurors is summoned and a 30ish man whose wife is 
expecting their first child is one of them but he intends to try to get 
out of the jury duty. He fails and is designated Juror #2.

The rest of the jury is chosen and the trial begins. The prosecutor has 
substantial evidence while the public defender has no alibi witness to 
offer and confines himself to raising reasonable doubt whenever 
possible. However, all is not as it seems. As the trial proceeds and the 
testimony is heard, it becomes clear that juror #2 has a connection to 
the events surrounding the young woman's death. His actions form the 
core of the story so I will not discuss them except to say that he must 
make a decision to be either honourable or cowardly. Both decisions 
carry grave consequences.

I like this kind of movie because it makes me wonder how I would react 
in that situation.

The actor playing juror #2 is Nicholas Hoult, who I've never seen 
before. I've never seem most of the other actors in anything else, 
although some of the names are familiar to me. There are SOME familiar 
faces, including Leslie Bibb as the jury foreperson, J. K. Simmons as 
another juror, and Kiefer Sutherland (in a small role). The judge, 
played by Amy Aquino, is also familiar to me, most recently as Bosch's 
superior in a few seasons of Bosch.

The film runs two hours. I see that IMDB rates it only a 7.0. 
Personally, I think it deserves better. Maybe the people that rated it 
were hoping for Clint to appear - he only directs - or were expecting 
car chases and special effects.

-- 
Rhino