There's a real dark horse in this year's Emmy nominations for Best Comedy. "Barry", "Bear's Diner", "Elementary School", "The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel", "Murder in the Building", mixed with a mockumentary/true reality show "Jury Duty".
Jury Duty poster
When it debuted on Amazon Freevee (formerly IMDb TV) in April this year, it still had more bad reviews than good reviews. An 8-episode drama with lackluster actors and an ambiguous nature was aired on a niche streaming platform supported by advertising, and the platform itself had no hope for it. Relying largely on word-of-mouth on TikTok, by May Amazon realized it had come out on top and was streaming No. 1 when the final episode aired, immediately moving it to Amazon's main channel. In June, word of mouth continued to ferment, gathering fans and heated discussions on social media. In July, it entered the Emmy, becoming a drop of new blood among old faces.
Watching "Jury Duty" was a real pleasure. It neither involves serious legal or social issues, nor does it have an ethical impact or forced sensationalism and laughter. The scene indicated by the title is just the background of the story. A group of men gather in a California courtroom to finish a civil case and form a genuine friendship over the course of 17 days. The only special: All of the actors are actors, except for one, Ronald Geldon.
Stills of "Jury Duty"
Lee Eisenberg and Gene Stupnitsky are returning a decade after The Office ended. Although, there are many good works of this school of comedy - "Parks and Recreation", "Modern Family", "Primary School"... "Jury Duty" is the one that captures the essence of "The Office".
The essence is that it knows how to find small pieces of fun in an environment that usually tends to be boring. The human relationship is warm, everyone's protruding character edges and corners, or the recessed dark side of the soul, are covered with a layer of warm background. Most of the jokes in it are cold and funny. Actors hold a script, but the script does not limit their performance. Because of the Ronald variable, they often had to improvise and act on his responses. There are so many wonderful moments.
Stills of "Jury Duty"
Here's what happened: Ronald Geldon (29) saw an ad on Craigslist, signed up for a documentary about justice, and was chosen. When he arrived at the courthouse, he assumed that the other jurors were conscripts like himself. Unexpectedly, only he was a real amateur, kept in the dark until the end. He knew that the court hearing would be filmed and participated in group interviews. Didn't know there were invisible cameras everywhere in courtrooms and hotels, and didn't expect this documentary/reality show to be a hit.
Several times, Ronald smiled and said to his companions: "Wow, this is too much like the plot in a reality show." But it seems that he has not seen it through, or he chose to let the doubts slip away, let them go, and focus on the moment .
In the script, Ronald's character is called a "hero". He was the perfect candidate the crew picked out of 2,000 applicants. It's been a long time since I've seen such a blissful person on screen and in life. He was tall and beautiful, with a slightly crooked tooth, and a sweet smile that never seemed to get angry. Whatever happened (none of which was too irritating, actually), he was able to handle it in a reasonable and decent way while laughing; innocent as a big boy, just as a judge.
Ronald's most precious thing is a tolerant heart, not to blame others. He's always helping others without being silly and pedantic. He understands humor, treats people with sincerity, and has no cloud of mental uneasiness on him.
Stills of "Jury Duty"
The rest of the cast includes: James Marsden, who is famous and plays himself. According to the role setting, he wants to magnify the narcissistic side of Hollywood actors, often showing off suddenly, pretending to be nonchalant to attract everyone's attention. It's just that this character is not annoying, but rather cute.
Stills of "Jury Duty"
Invention Geek Todd (David Brown) wears a stool strapped to his ass, Bluetooth headsets in the shape of fake ears, and a suit of useless inventions. He oscillated between pathetic and brave, and Ronald gave him a few nudges to take away his hot-eyed side and make him a real cutie.
The smoky old woman Barbara (Susan Berg) has the invincible self-confidence of such an old woman, dozing off in court and swallowing strong alcohol in court. When resting, a person lies flat with his feet on the wall, and doesn't care about the eyes of his surroundings.
Jenny (Edi Modica), a self-proclaimed "fun girl," handed out sweet treats when she first arrived. Sucking a red lollipop in his mouth, it stuck to his chest with a "click" as he spoke. She is the crystallization of sunshine in California. She loves love and life. She wears exaggerated eyeshadows of different colors every day, and she looks like Lady Gaga.
One of the screenwriters, Mackie Leper, plays young Noah, whose precarious relationship has become a topic of familiarity, and he quickly falls in love with Jenny with Ronald's encouragement.
Triver (Ben Snowwood), who sat in the dock because he urinated on the pile of T-shirts in the factory, and Jacqueline (Whitney Rice), the plaintiff who was born with a golden key in his mouth, are polar opposites. Had it not been for this accident, the two would not have had the chance to face each other. The plaintiff aroused the sympathy of the jury, and also beat their American spirit-should an adult be responsible for his actions?
Stills of "Jury Duty"
The plaintiff was not only rich but also a beautiful woman. The big diamonds on the ears are shining, and the clothing brand lady boss is the second narcissist after James Marsden. For the sake of self-promotion or a real sense of pity, she said everything that seemed to be boastful, causing the eyes of the jury to roll like flashing lights. It was not her fault that she boasted that she was born rich, and she wanted the jury to know that she was the victim of a major blow to her goodwill for no reason. Naturally, it didn't work out well.
Stills of "Jury Duty"
Ken (Song Lang), a Korean middle-aged man with facial makeup, speaks slowly and seriously. An ADHD-like James dances in the background as he explains simple things in complex language. He took Ronald to play a so-called "Korean traditional" gambling game, and lost a huge sum of US$2,000. The constipated expression accompanied by the stiffness of the whole body, although there is a tendency of cultural facial makeup, the degree of reduction is indeed very high.
It was such a group of people who were first "trapped" in court, and then all communication tools were confiscated because of James' cleverness, and they were sent to an isolation hotel until the trial was completed. Strangers become partners who must "hang out".
Stills of "Jury Duty"
The experience of hanging out with friendly people becomes rarer as you get older. There is no competition between people, there is no utilitarianism, and there is a lot of waiting time, which needs to be spent by each other. In this environment, people will become tolerant. Jokes about "racism" and "white supremacy" were gently picked up and put down. The boiling water of social media is cooled here by eye rolls, tongue clicks and smiles.
These make people want to go out of the house and chat with friends.
Jury Duty is inevitably being compared to last year's Nathan Field's The Rehearsal. Both are pseudo-documentaries/reality shows; both are carefully manipulated, allowing participants to flow between performance and nature, until it is difficult to distinguish which is scripted and which is an expression of sincerity and free will.
The difference between them is that "Rehearsal" is not warm. The ghostly Nathan Field snowballs the joke. HBO mobilized more and more manpower and resources, making "Rehearsal" finally a devil's joke. The role of the devil, played by Field himself. This is a devil who has just debuted as a director. He still doesn't understand human nature, so he can only detect people's hearts by constantly creating rehearsal scenes.
Due to the devil's natural defect - no feeling, no amount of observation and acting can only allow Nathan to acquire knowledge, and it is difficult to empathize. When Adam (15), who plays his son, passes out from a drug overdose, Nathan cries eerily, a state of trying to evoke real grief by imitating it.
The Matryoshka doll structure in "Rehearsal" is difficult to distinguish between true and false. As the participating characters become aware of the infinity of the passage of time, they gradually lose interest, feel horrible, and eventually lose interest. This weird play created a black hole for the audience to look inside.
Jury Duty is the exact opposite. It turns the difficult business of trial, the abyss of emotion, into a nest of light. The shoot took place during the COVID-19 pandemic, social distancing, and a desire to connect face-to-face with one another. The opportunity it provided squeezed a dollop of delicious cream on a difficult life.
People like the protagonist, Ronald Geldon, would now be labeled "naive, white, male." All the characters in the play are also full of labels. There are too many rules, and even the most sensible people sometimes fail to recognize themselves. Vanessa (Cassandra Blair), who loves to roll her eyes, confessed to the people around her: "Actually, I'm black", and everyone looked numb... In California, everyone has seen too many weird guys. It is no surprise that people who have obvious black characteristics like this, but think they are not very obvious.
Stills of "Jury Duty"
Characters with labels come on stage, hang out, and create a tolerant and safe environment together. As a result, the label disappeared, along with the less tolerant external environment. It demonstrates the power of friendship and tolerance. In this environment, no matter how boring people are, they will also become fun. Labels, dogmas, isms are cast aside and no one cares.
Inner world, personal history, no longer matter. Everyone is mixed together, and no one pours out their past and thoughts to others. They just flow with time without resistance in an environment of idleness. This most basic characteristic of childhood is already so far away from us, so we fall in love at first sight.
