Final Rating: 4.5/5
In Juror #2, Nicholas Hoult plays Justin Kemp, a man called for jury duty in a trial surrounding the murder of a young woman. A year prior, Kendall Carter was found dead at the bottom of an overpass a day after an argument with her boyfriend, James Scythe (Gabriel Basso) at a Georgia bar. Though Kemp is hearing of the death for the first time, he quickly realizes a number of distressing details: the name and location of the bar, the date of the murder, the timing of the argument… Kemp was there that night and might be the one responsible for Carter’s death.
Starting from a gripping legal edge-case, Juror #2 sees director Clint Eastwood highlight the imperfections of the American legal system. Characters regularly repeat that “the justice system isn’t perfect, but it’s the best we have,” while the film examines if this is actually true.
What at first seems like a slam-dunk case for district attorney Faith Killebrew (Toni Collette) is marked by insufficient evidence that one juror, a former detective, labels as “tunnel vision.” Scythe was identified pulling his car over and examining his handiwork in the pouring rain, but the witness was far away and only shown pictures of one suspect. Carter was bludgeoned to death, but no murder weapon was ever found. The couple’s argument was filmed, but the footage doesn’t provide insights beyond what Scythe himself freely divulges. And no one can conclusively prove where Scythe was after he left the bar.
Still, Scythe is a perfect suspect. He’s a jilted boyfriend with gang affiliations and a history of aggression, if not outright violence. He’s repentant, sure, but he’s got a temper and he’s not very charismatic. Throughout the courtroom, there’s a sense that no one would miss him if he were locked away for life.
But Kemp the juror is also a perfect suspect. He’s a recovering alcoholic who stopped at a bar during a low point in his marriage, and may have hit Carter with his car while distracted. Were he to come forward, justice could be served, but a jury wouldn’t likely be sympathetic to Kemp’s accident.
The main difference between Scythe and Kemp as suspects is that Scythe was simply more convenient. Where Juror #2 shines is by showing that a court system that values convenience necessarily sacrifices justice in the process.
During jury deliberation, viewers discover one juror has three kids she needs to take care of, another a husband waiting on her at home, a third juror is missing work at the children’s shelter. Nearly all jurors have places to be and want this case dealt with quickly. The last thing on anyone’s mind is whether or not Scythe is actually guilty.
Even as Kemp begins to argue for Scythe’s innocence – or at least that he is not guilty beyond a reasonable doubt – his words often fall on deaf ears. Forced to consider Scythe’s guilt, plenty of jurors have simply made up their minds that Scythe is bad news.
For no juror is this truer than Marcus, played by Cedric Yarborough. Marcus works with troubled youths in the community. As a result of his work, he’s intimately familiar with all the local drug gangs, and acutely aware of the harm they inflict on the community. After clocking a gang tattoo on Scythe, Marcus becomes convinced that Scythe needs to go away for life. Quickly arriving at a guilty vote, he’s the member of the jury most suspicious of Kemp. Marcus isn’t quite sure what Kemp’s up to, but he’s not willing to “play his games.”
For Marcus, the most convenient option is also the only possible one. He’s a man so thoroughly molded by his experiences, so firm in his conceptions of good and evil, that due process stops being a meaningful tool. Whether Scythe is guilty of this particular murder or not, the life he is implied to have lived is unworthy of forgiveness.
Hoult’s role as the titular conflicted juror is evocative of Henry Fonda’s performance in 12 Angry Men. Initially the lone holdout, Kemp dismantles every piece of flimsy evidence, convincing juror after juror of Scythe’s innocence. Hoult is charismatic in the role, captivatingly bringing Jonathan Abrams’ script to life as he appeals to the humanity of each of the other characters.
Outside of the scenes of jury deliberation, Hoult convincingly portrays a man haunted by a past that refuses to let him escape. Eastwood regularly flashes back to the night of the event, juxtaposing Kemp’s present silent suffering with the outward agony of his past distress.
Hoult’s performance is neither stoic, nor showy, but strikes a balance that can often be difficult to watch. Kemp is flawed – not simply conflicted, but susceptible to the same errors of the rest of the jury. From the start, he too realizes that it would be much easier to just convict Scythe and go home to his pregnant wife. He’s empathetic to the other jurors and the victims but contends with his own self-interest. Justice is blind, but Kemp sees the whole picture.
On a technical level, Juror #2 excels. Shadows are subtly used to show characters’ internality. A scene with Kemp experiencing a moment of lucidity places him in an unlit room with only his eyes illuminated from the sun shining through the blinds. The prosecuting attorney, when overcome with doubt, sits alone in the shadows in her office.
Eastwood directs brilliant performances from the entire cast. Alternating between the defense and the prosecution, he crafts a narrative of uncertainty, lawyers often finishing each other’s sentences with contradictory statements. The closing arguments sequence is especially entertaining, with the prosecuting attorney laying out her final evidence only to smash cut to the defense saying the exact same thing with “not” in front of it.
“He’s a killer!” “This man is not a killer!”
“He loved his girlfriend!” “He did not love his girlfriend!”
“You must find James Scythe guilty!” “You must find James Scythe not guilty!”
As a courtroom drama, Juror #2 stands with the best of the genre.
