Review of Fury

A mob forms to take justice into its own hands when a stranger is wrongly accused of kidnapping a young girl. The small, friendly town becomes a seething cauldron as normally decent people get caught up in the gossip and rabble rousing. While the viewer's sympathies are with Spencer Tracy as the unfortunate prisoner, Lang's portrayal of social breakdown is disturbing enough, with the mob assembling at night and the camera going from one crazed face to the next. But there is much more, as the ensuing trial of the ringleaders, both men and women, proceeds, as well as the transformation of Tracy from likable to vengeful, so much so that he scares his own brothers. His reappearance, covered with the ashes of the fire, in the doorway of his brother's apartment is a classic scene. The trial of the ringleaders is beautifully done and dramatically closes out the film.