Brilliant classic, believe the hype

Rating: 9/10 (18 May 2016)

This film starts out and you have no idea how the heck the movie-makers were going to make a full-length piece out of it. And yet they did. And how. Henry Fonda plays superbly well, as all actors, in this argumentative arm-wrestle between heart and brains, the 'heart' being the humane aspect and utter respect for others, and 'brains' being the logical, cerebral but ultimately lazy approach to problems. There is a very, very strong morality in this film, and unlike what you'd think, it is very, very subtly implied, carefully placed throughout the genes of this masterpiece, and very strongly executed. This film is pure acting where film is closest to acting on a theater stage. This film is asking philosophical questions with purpose and meaning and depth rather than fancy intellectual babbling. And it is a grande analysis of the psychology of men, on many different levels and in a plurality of examples. And never in excess, or exaggeration. Not one over-dramatic scene. Just right. Brilliant.