Though he seems to perpetually tease retirement, Clint Eastwood continues to create new movies. At the age of 94, 2024’s Juror #2 becomes his latest release.

Magazine journalist Justin Kemp (Nicholas Hoult) finds himself assigned to a jury. The case in question involves James Michael Sythe (Gabriel Basso), a man accused of the brutal murder of his girlfriend Kendall Carter (Francesca Eastwood).

His 11 fellow jurors view Sythe as clearly guilty, but Justin finds reason to believe otherwise. He maintains a secret that he debates whether or not to reveal, primarily because this information could substantially damage his own life.

Back in 1957, 12 Angry Men offered a story about a jury that deliberated on a seemingly open and shut case where one participant sowed seeds of doubt. While Juror doesn’t literally remake that Sidney Lumet classic, it comes far too close for comfort.

Courtroom dramas remain a lively genre, but Eastwood fails to find a good path to follow here. Rather than make this a taut thriller, he engages in far too many diversions.

And far too many illogical diversions along with a big bucket of plot holes and contrivances. Hoo boy, does Juror require the viewer to accept hunks of tough to swallow material.

Essentially we get 12 Angry Men with a big twist. This comes from the manner in which the movie potentially implicates Justin as the person who accidentally killed Kendall.

Spoiler? Maybe, but this thread emerges so early in the film that I think it exists as a core plot point and not a major surprise whose reveal spoils the fun.

Superficially, this curveball could create an interesting thread. However, it feels more like a cheap gimmick, and Juror can’t find a way to turn it into anything workable.

A lot of the problem stems from the way Juror contorts to get us to accept various aspects of said curveball. It requires so many leaps of logic and coincidences to succeed.

Juror comes populated with lots of narrative distractions. There’s Justin’s heavily pregnant wife Ally (Zoey Deutch) and his status as a recovering alcoholic.

There’s the ambitious Assistant DA (Toni Collette) who hopes a conviction will seal her ascent to the next level. There’s the retired cop (JK Simmons) who gets curious.

And on and on. Of course, 12 Angry Men came with some contrivances as well, but it remained so focused on the courtroom deliberation that we could forgive these.

Juror just finds itself all over the place. With so many narrative mouths to feed, the basic plot gets lost in the shuffle too much of the time.

And as mentioned, the movie too often forces us to accept plot holes and other convenient developments. None of these make it a terribly believable tale.

We do find a fine cast, and most do good work. I admit I think Hoult seems callow as our conflicted lead, however, and he doesn’t quite pull off the role’s psychological demands.

Because I enjoy courtroom dramas, I really wanted to like Juror #2 but the movie couldn’t overcome its many self-inflicted wounds. It's the kind of movie that thinks it's a whole lot deeper and more insightful and thoughtful than it actually is.

Juror #2 appears in an aspect ratio of 2.35:1 on this Blu-ray Disc. Across the board, this was an appealing transfer.

Sharpness looked strong. Nary a sliver of softness emerged so the image gave us a tight, well-defined image.

Jagged edges and moiré effects remained absent, while edge haloes also failed to appear. Print flaws stayed absent as well.

Juror opted for an amber/orange tone as well as some teal. These tones seemed predictable, but they worked fine within the movie’s design parameters and showed good vivacity.

Blacks were dark and tight, while shadows showed nice clarity and smoothness. I thought this was a consistently strong image.

Downconverted to Dolby TrueHD 7.1, I also felt pleased with the film’s Dolby Atmos soundtrack. Though not packed with action, the mix used the channels in an involving manner throughout much of the film.

This meant vehicles and environmental material all around the room, and the elements connected in a concise, smooth manner. Add to that music as a bold participant and the soundscape turned into an engaging partner.

Audio quality always satisfied. Music was dynamic and full, and effects followed suit, so those components came across as accurate and well-developed.

Speech seemed distinctive and crisp, without edginess or other issues. The audio worked fine for the usually chatty material.

No extras appear on this disc.

Despite a good cast and a basic courtroom structure that shows promise, Juror #2 struggles to connect. It follows too many contrivances and suffers from too many plot holes to succeed. The Blu-ray offers excellent picture and good audio but it lacks bonus materials. Given the talent involved, Juror #2 disappoints.