Sometimes, you’re watching a movie and you realize with a start that you really haven’t seen anything like this in a long time. Such is the case with Clint Eastwood’s “Juror #2,” an old-school courtroom drama that features no sudden twists or flashy action shots, but has at its center a quiet examination of conscience. Justin (Nicholas Hoult) is a recovering alcoholic, a father-to-be and a decent man who’s called for jury duty on a murder case — only to realize, at the start of the trial, that it’s entirely possible that the victim died in an accident that he unknowingly caused. His past record of DUIs (though sober the night of the incident) indicates that a confession would send him to jail, leaving his child fatherless and his life destroyed. Does he tell, or does he let the accused killer — the victim’s volatile, potentially violent boyfriend — take the rap?

Written by Jonathan A. Abrams, “Juror #2” often feels like a visitor from another era: Justin works as a “features writer for a lifestyle magazine”; the wood of the beautiful courthouse gleams idyllically in the sunlight; an older member of the jury actually says “Kids today!” But it’s made with absolute confidence, and populated with a remarkably strong cast: Toni Collette as an ambitious district attorney, J.K. Simmons as a questioning juror, Chris Messina (who’s absolutely mastered the whip-off-your-glasses-in-disbelief move) as the defense attorney, Zoey Deutch as Justin’s loving yet fearful wife. And Hoult — last paired with Collette in “About a Boy” 22 years ago, in which they played mother and son — lets us see Justin’s vulnerability, his desperate bargaining with himself, his awareness of the fragility of his hard-won happiness.

There’s nothing remotely fresh about “Juror #2,” but that’s what makes it fresh — it’s simply a story about neither heroes nor saints, but a group of people trying hard to do the right thing. Nice to see that Eastwood, who turned 94 this year, still has good movies in him; here’s hoping this isn’t the last.

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'JUROR #2'

3 stars (out of 4)

MPA rating: PG-13 (for some violent images and strong language)

Running time: 1:53

How to watch: Now in theaters

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