We will miss filmmakers like Clint Eastwood

The main buzz surrounding the new film Juror #2 centers on two things. First, it’s the film’s legendary director, Clint Eastwood, at 94 years old Despite it is able to make an exciting, intelligent and thought-provoking film for an adult audience with a running time of under two hours. The second reason is that the film’s distributor, Warner Bros. Discovery, quickly dropped it on streaming services after a very limited theatrical release.

With the film currently holding a 93% “fresh” rating on Rotten Tomatoes, some commentators lamented a perceived lack of respect for Eastwood or poked fun at notoriously risk-averse corporate studios only interested in producing franchised superhero films or remakes thereof seem to be remakes – anything but a mid-budget drama film based on an original screenplay.

The less satisfying and more likely explanation: Warner Bros. Discovery’s long-standing relationship with Eastwood and his Malpaso Productions over more than 40 films, its reputation for tight, professional productions that arrive on time and under budget, and the best picture statues it brings home Because “Unforgiven” from 1992 and “Million Dollar Baby” from 2004 brought “Juror #2” a limited theatrical release in the first place.

In fact, according to Variety, “Juror #2” was “originally commissioned as a streaming exclusive release, but was released to theaters after extensive testing.” (Although the Wall Street Journal noted that “when news of the Eastwood project broke in mid-2023 became known, it was not mentioned that it was intended for Max.”)

Although the film only played in fewer than 50 theaters, its box office gross per theater was respectable and performed even better in the few European countries where it was released.

As much as I would like to blame corporate greed and denounce the declining status of “film” – which I would define as a film that was not explicitly developed for Oscar competition or part of a multi-billion dollar theatrical universe – the reason , why we can see Juror #2 at all is likely the result of a Hollywood studio doing right by one of its great writers.

I, too, found it astounding that while audiences are watching a three-hour superhero movie, or a two-hour-plus Judd Apatow comedy, or hundreds of hours of addictive TV and streaming shows, they are still begging to go to the movies for one less as a two-hour drama, a bridge seems too far. And yet this is another sign of the times that cannot be blamed on younger audiences or the studios.

Regarding films like “Juror #2,” “Conclave” and “Here,” Pamela McClintock recently wrote in The Hollywood Reporter: “There’s just too much competition for fall films aimed at older consumers.” But that demo doesn’t exactly hold up frequent cinema goers. Rather, older generations have become accustomed to watching new releases at home relatively quickly after theatrical release, thanks to shortened windows and the emergence of streamers in the post-pandemic era.”

I wrote in 2023 about another great little film that was dropped by its studio without fanfare onto streaming services – the comedy/crime series “Confess, Fletch,” starring Jon Hamm – which I half-jokingly called “the most important film “of the moment”.

“These were the kind of films that settled video store disputes. The kind of movies that, when they were on HBO, you watched until the end (no matter where you started in the movie). You would even go to these movies on date nights. People liked them! You made money! And yet they are virtually obsolete.”

Unfortunately for film lovers like me, adult dramas like Juror #2 and highbrow comedies like Confess, Fletch are some of the last of a dying breed. But we should be grateful that they exist at all. And we should talk about it – “word of mouth” is still the most effective form of advertising!

We will miss filmmakers like Clint Eastwood, who, despite his well-earned reputation with westerns like The Outlaw Josey Wales, Pale Rider and Unforgiven, is an astonishingly prolific director of genre-defying films. Films like “Mystic River,” “American Sniper,” and “Bridges of Madison County” grossed big at the box office and received Oscar nominations and awards. None of them have the shine of Eastwood’s grizzled Western face.

Since it’s the holiday season – when many of us lucky enough to be surrounded by family find it hard to find something everyone can watch together – allow me to share Eastwood’s 1993 film “A Perfect World.” to introduce. It’s a Flannery O’Connor-inspired Southern Gothic about an escaped prisoner, played by Kevin Costner, who forms a father-figure relationship with the young, fatherless boy he kidnapped. It’s haunting, morally ambiguous, and some of the film’s lighter moments come from Eastwood himself, in a supporting role as a tough Texas Ranger pursuing Costner’s fugitive. It’s entertaining and emotional, heartbreaking and satisfying.

The best films are shared experiences between the audience. They force you to breathe after the credits roll, allowing you the briefest moment in modern life when all you can do is think – and then you can talk to the person next to you about how the film made you feel. Clint Eastwood has made many of these films and Juror #2 may be the last of them.