Juror #2

I watched this on Christmas Day, and thought it was a well-crafted and worthwhile film, perhaps the coda to 94 year old (he was 93 when they filmed it) director Clint Eastwood's legendary career.

It's a court room drama/thriller that examines the discrepancies and weaknesses in our legal system, a theme that Eastwood's early work as The Man With No Name in his Spaghetti Westerns and as Detective Harry Callahan in the Dirty Harry movies shared.  
 

Clint doesn't act here, he's just directing, although his daughter has a small but important role.  It's a taut, supremely paced drama, shot mostly in Savannah, Georgia, though not necessarily set there.  No special effects, no CGI, it stands on the strengths of the original screenplay, several strong acting performances by the ensemble cast, and the experienced direction of a master craftsman.

It was originally planned to go directly to streaming on HBO, but had a limited run in about 30 theaters in the U.S., although it got a wider release internationally.  A somewhat controversial move for a work from such an iconic director.

It's a fascinating study of how justice is meted out, and makes me wonder how myself and others would handle the situation the protagonist finds themself in.

It's got a 97% favorable rating on Rotten Tomatoes going for it too.

Go stream it on HBO.

Here's to Clint Eastwood, still spinning creative magic in his 90s.