That's basically the story: A jury deliberating on the guilt of a teenager from a slum who is on trial for the murder of his abusive father. It's apparent that all the jurors have already made up their minds about the defendant's guilt, with the exception of a lone dissenter played by Henry Fonda - who is unwilling to send a boy to his his death without taking the time to discuss it first. The rest of the film is about him trying to persuade the other jurors to have a reasonable doubt.
With the exception of the beginning and the end, the whole film takes place in real time within the confines of the jury room. The trial itself is not shown, but all the important details are mentioned during the deliberation.
The film's biggest strength is the characterisation of the jurors. Henry Fonda is well-mannered and displays a great deal of patience during his battle, and he is contrasted by Lee J. Cobb as the main antagonist - an emotional, short-tempered and disrespectful man who is obsessed with delivering a guilty verdict. Between them is a great array of characters - such as E.G. Marshall as one of the other main supporters of a guilty verdict but is driven by facts and logic rather than emotion. In another vein, we have Jack Warden as an obnoxious and indifferent juror who is more concerned about leaving quickly so he can attend a baseball game.
Every juror gets their moment to shine, providing an inspirational tale about constructive arguments and one who stands against many but slowly wins support.
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