12 Angry Men
"Absorbing, tense and exciting. Leaves a tremendous impact!" -Daily Variety
Henry Fonda, Lee J. Cobb, Ed Begley and Jack Klugman lead the distinctive cast of jurors whose character portrayals are "perfect in every detail" (The Hollywood Reporter). With its star-powered cast and four Oscar nominations including Best Picture, 12 Angry Men is a powerful, suspenseful and "fascinatingly entertaining film" (Los Angeles Examiner).
Eleven jurors are convinced that the defendant is guilty of murder. The twelfth has no doubt of his innocence. How can this one man steer the others toward the same conclusion? It's a cast of seemingly overwhelming evidence against a teenager accused of killing his father in "one of the best pictures ever made" (The Hollywood Reporter).
Member Reviews
An American classic - RobBC
In New York, as storm clouds gather on the “hottest day of the year,” an 18-year old boy from the wrong side of the tracks stands accused of murdering his father. With a mountain of evidence against him and two solid eyewitnesses whose damning testimonies link him to the crime, the death penalty seems inevitable. The monumental task of deciding the young man’s fate ultimately rests in the hands of the twelve-member jury assigned to the case, and eleven of them have already decided he is guilty. Only one man stands between them and the unanimous vote needed for a verdict. “Juror #8” (Henry Fonda, marvelously understated) is not entirely convinced the boy did it and has some serious doubts concerning the prosecution’s arguments. With its brilliant cast and tightly focused direction 12 Angry men is a powerful ensemble piece exploring what can happen when conscience versus consensus.One of the Best Films Ever Made - Gregg
An incredible film that is even more incredible for the fact that it was filmed almost entirely in one small room and was made on a surprisingly small budget. The film did have a top Hollywood star in Henry Fonda but while director Sidney Lumet would go on to an amazing career this was his first work outside of television. The film earned 3 important Oscar nominations for Best Film, Best Direction and Best Writing but would lose all three categories to Bridge on the River Kwai and was not successful at the box office. Despite all this more than 50 years later this film currently sits at #7 on the IMDB Top 250 films of all time, a position that I believe is justified.
The film is essentially the story of a jury deliberation of a murder case involving a Hispanic youth that initially appears to be clear cut until one man raises questions mostly to ensure that everyone has given the case their full consideration, when doubts arise the tempers flare and the prejudices of some jury member’s surface. Now instead of an exercise in fair play we have the juror’s undertaking a decision that will determine the fate of a young man whose innocence becomes more and more likely.
The most effective aspects of Lumet’s direction are making a film that is almost entirely dialogue in one room incredibly compelling and making that single set dramatic and effective. The tension mounts through out the film as the deliberation nears it conclusion and Lumet adjusts the cameras and the lenses to build a feeling of claustrophobia in the small extremely hot jury room.
The other major contributor was Reginald Rose who wrote the screenplay and co-produced the film with Fonda.
In addition to Fonda in what I believe is his best career performance we have host of recognizable faces including; Martin Balsam, Lee J Cobb, E.G. Marshall, Jack Warden, Ed Begley and one very recognizable voice is John Fiedler who better known as the voice of Piglet in Winnie the Pooh.Simple Yet Powerful; Movie-Making At Its Finest - revsdd
Modern movies have convinced us that if a movie doesn't have big budget special effects and lots of action it's not worth watching. If you want to be healed of that viewpoint, "12 Angry Men" is the tonic. Here we have the simplest of movies. Except for the opening and closing couple of minutes this entire movie is set in a jury room, as 12 men debate the fate of a young man charged with murdering his father. Is he guilty or not? Will he be executed or not? The 12 jurors debate the case. And that's it, basically. And it's powerful and fascinating and you won't take your eye off the screen from the moment it starts.
Henry Fonda put on an excellent (if, I thought, a little bit too preachy) performance as Juror Davis, the lone hold out as the movie starts, the vote being 11-1 in favour of guilty. Davis may not be convinced of the young man's innocence, but he sure isn't convinced of his guilt and he sets out to convince the others to give the kid a break. As good as Fonda was, though, Lee J. Cobb stole the show as Juror Number 3, an angry, hateful and vengeful man who lashes out at the "bleeding hearts" as they start to be convinced by Davis' arguments. An excellent supporting cast (including the likes of E.G. Marshall, Jack Warden and Jack Klugman among others) also put on wonderful performances.
I thought the movie was summed up perfectly at the very end. As Davis is leaving the courthouse, he's met by Juror McCardle (Joseph Sweeney). They introduce themselves to each other (they are the only two jurors named in the movie) and then go their separate ways. These twelve men who held the life of another man in their hands didn't have a clue who each other were and would probably never see each other again. But for this brief period of time they could hold us fixated, even if we didn't know who they were.
Movie-making at its finest.
Member Reviews
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An American classic - RobBC
In New York, as storm clouds gather on the “hottest day of the year,” an 18-year old boy from the wrong side of the tracks stands accused of murdering his father. With a mountain of evidence against him and two solid eyewitnesses whose damning testimonies ...One of the Best Films Ever Made - Gregg
An incredible film that is even more incredible for the fact that it was filmed almost entirely in one small room and was made on a surprisingly small budget. The film did have a top Hollywood star in Henry Fonda but while director Sidney Lumet would go on ...Simple Yet Powerful; Movie-Making At Its Finest - revsdd
Modern movies have convinced us that if a movie doesn't have big budget special effects and lots of action it's not worth watching. If you want to be healed of that viewpoint, "12 Angry Men" is the tonic. Here we have the simplest of movies. Except for the ...