Clint Eastwood’s ‘Juror #2’ Reunites Two Beloved ‘About a Boy’ Stars

Juror #2 arrives on Max on December 20, and subscribers have many reasons to give the film a chance. It’s a thriller done right, it’s loved by critics, and it could be Clint Eastwood’s final film. Juror #2 is also uniquely exciting for reuniting two of the stars in the classic film About a Boy, Nicholas Hoult and Toni Collette. Even better, the film gives its best roles to the actors, creating standout performances from two already-beloved actors.

Toni Collette and Nicholas Hoult First Acted Together in ‘About a Boy’

Nicholas Hoult and Toni Collette first worked together on the film About a Boy. It was one of Hoult’s first films, and he was young at the time, about to enter his teen years. He played the titular boy, Marcus Brewer, and Collette played his mother, Fiona Brewer.

In the film, Hugh Grant’s character, Will, lives a bachelor lifestyle. When he attends a meeting for single parents to hopefully find a single mother he can date, he meets Nicholas Hoult’s character, Marcus. Will and Marcus gain a unique bond. Throughout the film, Marcus helps Will build the confidence he needs to date women, and Will helps Marcus deal with bullying at school. They become the most unlikely of friends, and it keeps the film charming.

Toni Collette’s character, Fiona, doesn’t have nearly the same relationship with Marcus as Will does. Fiona is often depressed, and at one point, Marcus even asks Will to date her, but the relationship turns sour when Fiona finds out Will lied about being a single parent. She stops Will from being around Marcus for a bit, but she eventually relents, as the man and boy’s friendship is good for both of them.

The bond between Nicholas Hoult and Hugh Grant in About a Boy helps make the film such a classic. Even as a child, Hoult demonstrates his knack for acting, and it’s excellently paired with Collette’s portrayal of depression through her role as a single mother.

‘Juror #2’ Reunites Nicholas Hoult and Toni Collette Two Decades Later

In Juror #2, Nicholas Hoult plays the central juror, Justin Kemp, who’s emotionally torn throughout a trial. Toni Collette plays the assistant district attorney, Faith Killebrew, who’s acting as prosecutor for the case. Most of the actors’ scenes together are in the courtroom, where Faith delivers information in the trial and Justin listens.

The characters’ lives intersect in the final and most important scene of the film. Faith has fought in an election to become district attorney, but she found a flaw in the case where Justin was a juror that would be detrimental for Justin. Justin essentially threatens that if Faith were to reveal the flaw of the case, she could lose the election for district attorney. Their conversation throughout the scene reveals many moral dilemmas and problems with the justice system and gets to what the characters value most in the film.

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It’s also exciting to reflect on how much the two actors’ careers have grown when seeing them onscreen together. In the time since About a Boy, Nicholas Hoult has been nominated for an Emmy for The Great and acted in blockbuster films like the X-Men series. Toni Collette had already been nominated for an Oscar for The Sixth Sense by the time About a Boy came out, but after that, she went on to win an Emmy for United States of Tara and led unique films like Hereditary.

Clint Eastwood Draws Terrific Performances from Actors

Audiences shouldn’t be deterred by the fact that Juror #2 had a small release in a select number of theaters. The movie’s excellency goes far beyond the fact that Nicholas Hoult and Toni Collette are both good in it. The film received overwhelmingly positive reviews, getting a 93% from critics and a 91% from audiences on Rotten Tomatoes. There is some hugely impressive acting in the film, and Nicholas Hoult and Toni Collette work well with actors like Kiefer Sutherland, J. K. Simmons, and Zoey Deutch. The film’s knack for drawing strong performances from actors comes from the fact that the film is directed by a former actor, Clint Eastwood.

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Clint Eastwood has had a major impact on the film industry, starring in classic movies such as The Good, the Bad and the Ugly and directing films like Million Dollar Baby and American Sniper. Eastwood is 93 years old, so he’s seen a lot, which means he knows a lot about what works in a movie. This is his chance to give audiences what they want while he still has the chance to continue making movies.

Even though court cases are thought of as slow and boring, Eastwood makes it exciting in Juror #2. The drama becomes a thriller as viewers watch the mystery unravel. It’s reminiscent of old studio films, which didn’t have to try to worry about being blockbusters and didn’t have to worry about being relinquished to streaming services either. Juror #2 is now streaming on Max.