OKAY NEW MOVIE: JUROR # 2

Toni Collette and Nicholas Hoult

JUROR # 2 (2024). Director: Clint Eastwood. 

Justin Kemp (Nicholas Hoult of Dark Places) is chosen for a jury on a murder case. The defendant (Gabriel Basso), who has an unsavory past, is accused of beating his girlfriend to death one rainy evening. But then Justin remembers that he was at that same bar where the two of them were that night, and that he hit something in the road, assuming it was a deer. Could he have actually hit the dead woman? A lawyer friend (Keifer Sutherland) advises him that with his past drunk driving record -- although he claims not to have had anything to drink that night -- he will wind up being charged with vehicular manslaughter. But, hell, maybe he did hit a deer ... 

Simmons and Hoult

Juror # 2 reminds one of twisty, somewhat contrived suspense flicks of the forties and fifties where lots of things about trials were shoved under the rug. For instance, I found it incredible that when an elderly man testifies that he saw the defendant (actually Justin, one assumes) on the road checking out his car and recognized him months later even though it was the proverbial dark and stormy night and he was quite a distance away, the defense lawyer (Chris Messina) doesn't challenge him! It takes someone on the jury to point this out. The actions of a juror named Harold, a retired homicide detective (J. K. Simmons of Whiplash) are also a bit suspect. 

Hoult

Whatever the flaws of the film, it is suspenseful and entertaining and not entirely predictable. The acting is also top-notch, with the conflicted Hoult, Simmons, Toni Collette (of Fright Night) as the prosecutor, and others giving credible performances. It's also admirable that the picture presents a prosecutor who isn't perfect, but who isn't some kind of monster, either. One could argue, however, that Juror # 2 just misses being a really memorable movie. 

Verdict: Interesting plot -- and Hoult gives a charismatic lead performance. ***. 

X-MEN: DAYS OF FUTURE PAST

Michael Fassbender as Eric Lensheer aka Magneto

X-MEN: DAYS OF FUTURE PAST (2014). Director: Bryan Singer.

"So, you were always an asshole?" -- Logan referring to Erik.

Around 2027 mutants and their human supporters are besieged by robots known as Sentinels and the world is in a terrible state. To prevent this scenario from ever coming about, Logan (Hugh Jackman), is sent back in time -- or rather his mind is -- to inhabit his body in 1973. The plan is for Logan, with his knowledge of the future, to help Charles Xavier (James McAvoy of Victor Frankenstein) and Erik Lensherr (formerly known as Magneto, although he is not referred to as such in this movie) prevent shape-shifting Mystique (Jennifer Lawrence of American Hustle) from murdering the creator of the Sentinels, Dr. Bolivar Trask (Peter Dinklage). Logan's first task is to break Erik (Michael Fassbender) out of prison, where he has been shut away after allegedly murdering JFK (he claims he was actually trying to save him). But can these three men prevent an angry Mystique from bringing about the very future they fear? This movie is very loosely based on a classic storyline in the X-Men comic book, but it eliminates the Brotherhood (of Evil Mutants) and adds a tense climax wherein Magneto lifts up an entire stadium and places it around the White House. The movie makes other changes as well. Quicksilver (Evan Peters) is Russian in the comics, but in this he's American and can run as fast as DC Comic's Flash. Another big change is that in the comics Trask is of "normal" size whereas in the movie he's a "little person" -- what that's supposed to mean except perhaps for the indication that people who are different can still discriminate against other people who are different?  -- but the movie never explores his feelings in that regard. The performances throughout the film are excellent, with Fassbender taking top honors as Erik. Ian McKellan appears briefly as the older Magneto, a role he created on film, and he's fine, as is Patrick Stewart as the older Charles Xavier (although one can't quite see James McAvoy turning into Patrick Stewart no matter how many years have gone by). Nicholas Hoult [Jack the Giant Slayer] scores as Hank McCoy, better-known as the Beast, and there are what almost amount to cameos from Halle Berry (Storm) and other characters/actors from the earlier films. This has an interesting and moving conclusion, and a good score by John Ottman.

Verdict: Those X-Men just keep on comin'! ***.

DARK PLACES

DARK PLACES (2015). Director/writer: Gilles Paquet-Brenner.

Libby Day (Charlize Theron) was a child when her brother, Ben, murdered his mother and his two other siblings; she was the only survivor. Years later she is contacted by Lyle Wirth (Nicholas Hoult), head of an organization called the Kill Club, one division of which tries to solve crimes. Wirth and his colleagues feel that Ben (Corey Stoll of Ant-Man) might have been innocent. Could it have been their drunk, nasty father, Runner (Sean Bridgers) who did the deed, or some of young Ben's (Tye Sheridan) associates? Based on a novel by Gillian Flynn, who also wrote Gone Girl, this has intriguing aspects to it and a solution that is far-fetched, to say the least. The movie is also a bit slow, and lacks the taut suspense that it needs (except for the climax). Charlize Theron [Prometheus] is okay in the lead, but no more than that, although there is some vivid acting from Chloe Grace Moretz [Carrie] and Andrea Roth, who plays Ben's girlfriend Diondra at different points in her life. Bridgers is quite effective as Runner, and Hoult [Jack the Giant Slayer] is fine as Lyle even though his part is very under-written. Tye Sheridan is very good as young Ben. Few of the characters in this are especially sympathetic or likable.

Verdict: Minor-league suspenser when all is said and done. **1/2.