The system does not work, the mistakes of the past accompany us throughout our lives, the presumption of innocence is a fallacy and we are incapable of freeing ourselves from our prejudices. The new movie Clint Eastwood, Jury #2number forty in his filmographyshot at their 94 yearsis a judicial drama with an interesting moral dilemma with which the veteran filmmaker reveals his disappointment in the US judicial system.
Quiet film, with the necessary dose of suspense, with a good performance – of Nicholas Hoult and Toni Colletteespecially – and a classic and elegant narration, a hallmark of his career as a director, Jury #2 It is a work with which Eastwood shows that he maintains the cinematic pulse, although here he has lost his spark.
The perfect American citizen
First script by Jonathan Abrams, the story introduces Justin Kemp, the perfect American citizen, who is summoned to be a jury in a murder case. None of those mentioned, including him, wants to fulfill their civic duty and all would prefer to quietly return to their lives. It is the first sign that Eastwood gives in the film of his anger with the system and his disenchantment with the exemplary citizens of the country.
The dilemma arises when Kemp realizes that, in reality, the person responsible for the woman’s death could be himself. And from there the close-ups follow one another observing the reactions of this man, a ‘good’ guy who only wants to be with his wife and the daughter who is about to be born. Whether he will save himself or save the accused knowing that he is innocent is the question that the character asks himself and that the director proposes to all viewers.
At the same time, assistant district attorney Faith Killebrew makes it clear that this trial, in her opinion a very clear case of sexist violence, is the best asset to win the elections and be elected chief prosecutor. “This case is my campaign“And he clings to it knowing that getting the accused convicted is the door to achieving success.
Bet on the human being
JK Simmons, Kiefer Sitherland, Chris Messina and Cedric Yarbrough are part of the artistic team of this film, in which Clint Eastwood wanders through the occasional black hole of the judicial system, in addition to very lightly pointing out the racism installed in the country.
“Our illness is our secrets,” says a character in this story, who remembers too much in the jury’s deliberations. 12 men without mercy (1957), magnificent debut work of the great Sidney Lumetand that recovers the plot of The woman under oath (1919), a silent film John M. Stahl in which a famous novelist sits on a jury in a murder case and in the end it is discovered that she was the culprit.
The filmmaker reveals his disillusionment in this film with the system we have built, but, as Stahl did at the beginning of the last century, he also bets on human beings, on the honesty of each individual, women and men trying to survive their daily lives. , imperfect, often blinded by their prejudices and ideology, but devoid of any trace of evil.
The gray area
“I think people will enjoy this story. It’s a movie I would like to see. Take a look at the gray areato everything that happens between the black and white of everyday life and, hopefully, makes you think about what you would do in their shoes,” Clint Eastwood, who has already begun to prepare a new project.
The fight between what is right and what is wronga recurring theme in this director’s cinema, also reappears in this film, although tinged with those grays that he himself mentions. Sometimes what is wrong has not been premeditated and sometimes we are unable to see what is right. “It’s really intriguing when a writer puts a character in a moral dilemma and this one, taking place in a courtroom, is something we can all imagine or relate to in some way. I thought it was a strong story and would be a good movie”.
Toni Collete: “History contemplates what is good and what is bad, but in reality everything is gray, there is no black and white”
A film that, as Toni Collette has said, talks “about taking decisions you can live with. The story contemplates everything this man could potentially lose, what is right and what is wrong, but in reality everything is gray, there is no black and white. My character, the assistant prosecutor, “knows that if she wins this murder trial, she will practically win the district attorney’s job.
But, as you begin to realize what is happening and the effect it could have on your case, you have to decide what you can live with, because you could also lose a lot by coming forward with the truth, or what you think might be the truth. “Sometimes the truth is not fair,” says Clint Eastwood through the wedding of one of his characters while forcing them to decide what justice is for each person.
#Clint #Eastwood #reveals #disappointment #system #Jury #40th #film
