p r e f e r r e d r e v i e w e r s :
 |
 |
|
You haven't selected any preferred reviewers. To learn more about customizing your experience, click here.
|
|
|
 |
 |
o t h e r r e v i e w e r s :
|
|
|
shanster [ 9.0 ]
[ add to preferred ]
[ email this review to a friend ]
Excellent. It wasn't until after the movie that I thought about how it was set completely in the one room, yet gave your imagination room to wander around. Good food for thought and discussion.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Dancing_P [ 9.5 ]
[ add to preferred ]
[ email this review to a friend ]
12 Angry Men (1957) *****
A deceptively simple concept: 12 jurors, one room and one decision to make. It's the kind of premise that makes for a good little potboiler... but the fanatical attention to detail present in Reginald Rose's script and the intensity of the performances (coupled with Lumet's airtight direction) raise this well above a simple B-movie whodunit. Henry Fonda is Juror #8, assigned (with eleven other men) to the murder case of a young man who is accused of killing his father. #8 is the only one who believes that the young man is not guilty, and he sets out to get everyone to change their mind. Completely airtight in its development, the film builds suspense with nothing but character development and dialogue. The top-notch cast (besides Fonda, the film also stars Lee J. Cobb, Ed Begley, Jack Warden, Martin Balsam, E.G. Marshall, Jack Klugman and a handful of other venerable character actors) makes this the best film of its type; many have tried to follow in its footsteps... but few have achieved it so very perfectly.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
chapter11 [ 10.0 ]
[ add to preferred ]
[ email this review to a friend ]
Sidney Lumet's "12 Angry Men" nowadays is regarded, if at all, as a discarded classic, unique enough to sustain a few viewings but a little too quaint for "Casablanca"-worthy categorizing. Personally, I don't think anything could be further from the truth. Essentially, "12 Angry Men" is a flawless movie, moving, thought-provoking, and quite engaging, and manages the oft-overlooked juggle of entertainment and the one-room confinement. It's like something Hitchcock would have filmed if he were into courtroom (or, more appropriately, jury deliberation room) dramas instead of psychological suspense--- just as The Master liked to challenge himself and work within a set of constrictions (the famous "one-take" filming of "Rope," confining "Lifeboat" to the titular vessel), Lumet sets two lofty limits for himself: it is filmed in real time, with no jumps forward in continuity or narrative, and it takes place almost entirely in one room, with only the bookending scenes straying from that claustrophobic atmosphere. As such, "12 Angry Men" proves a worthy vehicle for director and stars--- Lumet shines by compensating for his lack of scenery with inventive, shadowy, and evocative camerawork, and the twelve stars, with no plot histrionics or even room to maneuver, infuse their performances with the stuff of legend. Each man that gets a few minutes in the limelight is raw, often fiery, and always humane, and that keen sense of drama makes everything work incredibly well. I couldn't begin to recommend this film enough; it's one of the most important and intriguing legal dramas in all of cinema.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Franc28 [ 9.0 ]
[ add to preferred ]
[ email this review to a friend ]
It always pisses me off when people give The Matrix as a philosophical movie, when there are so many much more rich sources of artistic exploration. 12 Angry Men is one such example, a great movie about epistemology.
During an unseen trial, a young man of a negatively-seen ethnicity (which is never specified) is accused of the murder of his father. It is an "open and shut case", and all the jurors agree that he is guilty, except juror #8, played by Henry Fonda.
In 95 minutes, almost shot in real-time, we observe as the jurors' prejudices and emotions churn and crash in mighty waves, as each piece of evidence is examined and examined again, as every actor plays against the others. In the process, we witness an object-lesson in epistemology : what is doubt, what is evidence, how do we prove or disprove a proposition, and how people in groups act in group dynamics that sometimes are not conductive to the truth.
Politically speaking, 12 Angry Men is a testimony against juries and capital punishment, but that is not the point of the movie. It is a movie about how we judge events and how we filter the truth. And that's something that you won't get from any action movie.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Hitchcockian [ 10.0 ]
[ add to preferred ]
[ email this review to a friend ]
Directed by Sidney Lumet, 12 Angry Men stands as a pinnacle of film-making. It depicts a twelve-man jury and the strife and pugnacity experienced in reversing an almost unanimous decision. The jury includes men from all walks of life, men of different lifestyles and temperments, irascible men, jovial men, detached men. The whole picture is shot in the same setting, the small, humid jury room which only adds to the tension and familiarity. Overall, Lumet's masterpiece is a must-see for any American cinema buff.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
kcremer [ 10.0 ]
[ add to preferred ]
[ email this review to a friend ]
An excellent courtroom drama, and an impressive debut for legendary director Sidney Lumet. It stars Henry Fonda, as one of twelve jurors selected to render a verdict on a murder case.
Initially, Fonda is the only one in the jury that has doubts about the defendant's guilt. As the movie progresses - which is at a deliberately leisurely pace, to emulate the irritable and impatient atmosphere in the jury room to the audience - some of the other jurors start to question their own judgement, while others remain inexorable.
This is the most entertaining movie I've ever seen that is shot almost completely in one room. The script is so good, because the story is realistic and believable, and the direction and performances were as flawless as one can get.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
drew95 [ 10.0 ]
[ add to preferred ]
[ email this review to a friend ]
Wow. Even though no action actually happens, "12 Angry Men" still manages to be suspenseful in an understated sort of way. All of its twelve leads are strong, particularly Henry Fonda as the juror with a strong conscience and Lee J. Cobb as the one with none whatsoever. Although it's a little implausible today that a jury would be composed of twelve white males, it's still a strong film and very effective. Striking black-and-white cinematography, and one of those few films (that are always great) filmed in "real time."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Love_Spoon [ 10.0 ]
[ add to preferred ]
[ email this review to a friend ]
Excellent story, excellent acting, excellent cinematography, excellent editing. If you let it, this film will pull you in and hold you for its full ninety minutes. Don't be scared of the black and white format. Everyone should see this film.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
A_Ratliff [ 10.0 ]
[ add to preferred ]
[ email this review to a friend ]
"12 Angry Men" is one of the best-acted films of all time, and that's simply because it has to be. The film is set in a claustrophobic jury room for nearly two hours. These twelve actors HAVE to deliver to make this movie interesting, and they do. There's nothing here but raw human drama. Lee J. Cobb, Henry Fonda, Jack Klugman, Jack Warden, and Martin Balsam are just a few of the household names that deliver tour de force performances here. Not only is it a compelling story about the legal system, it's a driving fable about morality and prejudice as well. "12 Angry Men" gets a 10 from me.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Weighted Rating | : 8.1 |
| No. Ratings | : 33 | |
| No. Reviews | : 13 | |
|
|
|
|