Convenient or otherwise...

Rating: 7/10 (4 May 2012)

This stagebound potboiler has a plot which is a matter of shooting fish in a barrel. Racism, to use the prime example, is used as an instance of a rush to judgment and then it's used to excuse a rush to the opposite judgment.
Still it's important to realize that this is entertainment. The equivalent of advocacy journalism, I admit, but no one denies that the creators of this entertainment have agendas. To the extent that the film affected me, it emphasized again in my mind how fallible our system of justice is. One should steer clear of it at all costs (The justice system, not the film).
And having said that, we've arrived at our system of justice through centuries of trial and error. And the advocacy system still seems superior to any previous arrangement.
But back to the film: it's respected because it's tightly plotted and exhibits impressive characterizations on the parts of several actors. I'm sorry that several characters are stereotypes when stereotyping itself is the 'crime' the jury (as opposed to the accused) is so guilty of. But the fact is that stereotyping is how messages are conveyed through the mass media, and it's a matter of whose stereotypes are being retailed. Rose & Lumet have their own, and they indeed add up to shooting fish in a barrel. (Immigrants=good, Nativist Americans=bad, etc.)
There's also an implication that with enough consideration, no one would ever be considered guilty of anything, especially if we consider extenuating circumstances. Separately, it's scary to consider that the lack of air conditioning in jury rooms led to a lot of hasty verdicts!
Finally, though, I can readily imagine how bracing this entertainment was in 1957. It was probably very much like a lightning bolt.