Reviewed by Roy Frumkes
Directed by Clint Eastwood
JUROR #2 can be purchased by clicking the above image.
I’d have to say, both William Friedkin’s 12 ANGRY MEN (1997) and Clint Eastwood’s JUROR # 2 are as good as Sidney Lumet’s original 12 ANGRY MEN (1957), which was the standard bearer of jury room hijinks for its time. Eastwood has sprinkled some women into the mix, and there are two black actors as well. And one Asian woman. And a non-binary person. To the director’s credit, the ensemble cast seems deftly chosen for their talent and they are all on the same wave length.
If you were about to pitch a screenplay to Clint Eastwood, and you had deliberately inserted sentences (purely as an example, not from the script) such as “The darkness creeps into the quiet room, making us feel uncomfortable and wary,” you’d have a real good shot at selling him that script. All the heavy darkness that clings to the protagonists’ plights in his films are stylistic touches that have almost always been a part of his cinematic signature. I first became aware of it in PALE RIDER, a western whose interiors are so dark that at times they can barely be seen. By now, I expect it.
He also has a gift for recognizing solid stories, and for casting the actors who will populate them. Directing a feature at age 93, I imagine, wasn’t overwhelming once those aspects were in play.
What was potentially overwhelming was the SAG strike, which brought the production to a halt for several months. Couldn’t they have made an exception for Clint’s advanced age? However, given the union’s lack of generosity, he probably took it in stride. Probably even told them not to worry; he’d be back to finish the film when the strike was over. After all, when he collected his second ‘Best Director’ Oscar in 2004, he proudly introduced his 96-year-old mother in the front row and thanked her for the ‘good genes.’
Recalling Quentin Tarantino’s stance that ten features was going to be his total output because directors outstay their welcome as vital forces. Can’t deny that, but Clint Eastwood beat the odds, as did John Huston with THE DEAD. Both filmmakers picked relatively small, tight projects that wouldn’t unduly tax their helmsmanship. Eastwood’s project had quite a few actors in the jury room alone! But they were pretty much confined to one set, and the strategy succeeded. It was a graceful final curtain call.
If in fact it is…
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