This is what the art and craft of fine film making is all about.

Rating: 10/10 (5 May 2007)

This film plays so well because of the confining space of the set, the choice to film in black and white, which itself becomes an element of the action, but most of all because of the impressive cast led by the ever magnificent Henry Fonda. It was once said that two actors epitomized the average American and they were Jimmy Stewart and Henry Fonda. Here he is the lone juror in a murder trial that is unsure that the defendant is guilty. He slowly and logically begins to change the minds of the other jurors as they swelter and suffer together in the miserable Jury room. With the exception of the first few minutes of the film the entire action takes place in that confining space as the men behind the masks begin to show their true selves. This is, hands down, a powerhouse film of the first order. This is what film drama is all about.