Review of 12 Angry Men (1957) by Melvin W — 29 Apr 2014
Juror #8: It's always difficult to keep personal prejudice out of a thing like this. And wherever you run into it, prejudice always obscures the truth.
"It Explodes Like 12 Sticks of Dynamite".
12 Angry Men is a movie of no action, but loads of tension. It finds the tension in differences of opinion, how people were brought up and how they talk, act and think. This is Sidney Lumet's most revered and remembered film, and for good reason. It's one of those rare films that won't leave you, ever. It's powerful and extremely well directed, written and acted.
An 18 year old slum kid is on trial for his life. He is accused of stabbing and killing his father. The 12 men of the jury retire to the jury room and take a vote. With the first vote, 11 of the jurors believe he is guilty and only one isn't sure; he votes not guilty. From there it's arguments and yelling, as Juror #8 tries to prove that you can't prove the boy killed his father.
There's a lot of reasons why this film is so good, but the most obvious one to me, is how simple it happens to be. It's twelve men sitting and walking around a table. They're all different, and the actors who played them couldn't have done a better job. The standouts for me were, obviously, Henry Fonda(one of the best ever) as Juror #8 and Lee J. Cobb who plays Juror #3, and is the exact opposite of Fonda's character.
It's easy to see why this is so often considered among people as one of the best films ever; definitely one of the best American films. 12 Angry Men is one that cannot and should not be missed by any film fan.
This review of 12 Angry Men (1957) was written by Melvin W on 29 Apr 2014.
12 Angry Men has generally received very positive reviews.
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