It’s a long way until the Oscars, but one of the common narrative threads coming out of the festivals is that there is not a clear consensus or front runner for Best Picture. This leaves an opportunity for several films that have yet to be seen by critics or general audiences to swoop in and claim the top prize, something that Clint Eastwood has done before and could do again this year with Juror #2. 

Clint Eastwood has been an iconic film maker since the 70’s, but his first nomination led to his first win in 1992 with Unforgiven, a deep meditation on the Westerns that he started his career making. This Oscar seemed to be rewarded because of the quality of the movie, but also as a legacy win to put the perfect cap on his career, which is interesting as his career has gone on for another thirty years. 

Ten years later he was nominated again for Picture and Director with Mystic River and, while he did not win this time, he did help direct Sean Penn and Tim Robbins to Oscar wins in their respective performance categories, which is interesting as Eastwood’s directorial style is just to let actors be actors with very little interference. 

This method has helped numerous performers get nominations including Matt Damon and Morgan Freeman for Invictus, Kathy Bates for Richard Jewell, Angelina Jolie for Changeling, and Bradley Cooper for American Sniper, which was also his most recent nomination for Best Picture. 

His casual directing style has often led to authentic films that are beautiful and personal, but has also led to many failures of later including, but not limited, to Hereafter, Jersey Boys, J. Edgar, and 15:17 to Paris. He also defied the odds with his Picture and Director nomination for Letters for Iwo Jima which was not the most famous film, but made its way into the conversation. 

However, his most notable Oscar success came with his second win, which was twenty years ago and is reflecting the current Oscar race. In 2004, the frontrunner was unenthusiastically The Aviator for the majority of the Oscar race until Clint Eastwood’s Million Dollar Baby was released at the absolute last minute and took Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actress, and Best Supporting Actor. This is notable because this year includes a late release Clint Eastwood film an Oscar race without a clear front runner.  

The trailer for Juror #2 just dropped and it looks like something that could be an awards heavy-hitter. It’s a legal drama with notable stars including Nicholas Hoult and Toni Collette who could be potential upsets in either of their likely races. This will also be Warner Bros main focus after the failures of Joker: Folie â Deux and Furiosa. Even though he was given his career Oscar almost 30 years ago, this might also be a chance to honor Eastwood once again for what has been a legendary career.

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