Best jury movie ever

Rating: 10/10 (12 April 2006)

A Hispanic teen is accused of killing his father. Tweleve jurors are sequestered to decide the kid's fate. The jurors take a vote before beginning deliberations and all but one vote guilty. So begins this highly engrossing drama based on a play. Directing his first feature film, Lumet does a fantastic job of building the tension, with virtually all the action taking place inside a steamy jury room. As the calming voice of reason, Fonda leads a great cast, a motley crew of jurors composed of characters from all walks of life: the meek (Fieldler), the hothead (Cobb), the thoughtful old man (Sweeney), the poor (Klugman), the disinterested (Webber). We get to know each juror over the course of the movie as Fonda makes the case for a reasonable doubt. Not to be missed.