An average movie

I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but, since it had been very well received and since it was available on HBO Max, I was quite eager to check it out. Well, to be honest, the damned thing was probably the most disappointing movie I have seen released in 2024 after all. I know, it might sound harsh but I kept hearing that it was the best movie directed by Clint Eastwood in ages but, while I would agree that it was the least disappointing movie he has delivered in a while, I was still not really impressed though. As far as I was concerned, it felt like a modern rip-off of ’12 Angry Men’ to which they added a really convoluted twist. Indeed, before I watched this movie, I knew this specific juror would have something to do with this crime but I didn’t know he would turn out to be actually guilty of this specific crime which was, in my opinion, rather ridiculous. Seriously, what are the odds that something like this could happen? Even more egregious and/or annoying was the fact that the main character apparently discovered this during the trial at the same time with the audience. Again, seriously, was this guy living under a rock or something? It was concerning a high-profile murder trial taking place where he lived but, during the year between the alleged murder and the trial, he didn’t hear or read anything about it at all? So, as you can see, I didn’t care much about the whole setup and this was only the first 15 mins. Concerning the rest of the movie, sure, it was well made and the cast was solid but, basically, you get to see the main character feeling guilty and all which was all rather predictable but, above all, it was never really fascinating. Finally, this movie was yet another proof of how broken the US judicial system has become (or as ever been). Basically, as displayed in this movie, people on a jury would give their sentence mostly depending on their moods and not so much based on the facts after all which was, of course, rather appalling but, unfortunately, hardly surprising. Anyway, to conclude, even if this movie turned out to be rather disappointing, I have to admit that it was still a decent watch and it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre. 

6/10