Review of 12 Angry Men (87)

Plot
What begins as an open and shut case of murder soon becomes a mini-drama of each of the jurors' prejudices and preconceptions about the trial, the accused, and each other.

Jason's Thoughts
12 Angry Men is a courtroom drama that doesn't actually take place inside of the courtroom, but inside the jury room.  To me, the movie is unique due to the fact that it is seemingly filmed in real time and most of the characters don't have names, only juror numbers.  A total of two characters state their names during the film and that happens in the final minute of the movie.  What really sets 12 Angry Men apart the rest, though, is that it consists only of the bare essentials - a single room, a few props, a great cast and a wonderful story.

The jury has the life of a young man in their hands and, like most of us, have already made assumptions about him  before even a shred of evidence had been brought out.  On the surface, all signs point to a guilty verdict, however, one juror would like to have a discussion about the trial before any quick decisions are made as it truly is a matter of life and death.  It's a pretty simple story if you think about it, but it slowly starts to build and become more complex once some of the facts are brought to light and the personalities of the jurors come into play.

Even though there is very little in the form of background and props, this really is a great movie.  I think that there are only a couple of parts that didn't quite sit right with me.  For starters, I thought it was a bit odd that there was no mention as to whether or not the young man truly was innocent or guilty.  I am willing to look past this, though, as it gives you an impartial look inside the jury room along with the jurors.  While I am on the topic of the jurors, the selection of 12 white males is a little unbelievable, even for the 1950's.  This movie did take place in New York City after all, the melting pot of America.

With that said, 12 Angry Men is still a great example on how you do not need elaborate sets and props with tons of CGI layered on to make a good movie.  Having a great story told by great actors is really all you need, and that is what makes 12 Angry Men a classic.

Crystal's Thoughts
I actually read 12 Angry Men way back in my high school years.  Generally, if there is a book or play on a screen play, I prefer to read it first.  It's common I think for there to be a lot of deviation, usually the printed version holding a lot more details than the screen version.  However, and granted it's been some years since reading the play, it didn't seem to be the case with 12 Angry Men.  I feel this play was well adapted into the movie.  It carried even more drama and emotion when played out on the big screen.  I felt it was easier to let the characters in and know what they were feeling as they worked through a difficult case.

I haven't really done much research into this, but one question I had throughout is why there wasn't a female on the jury - yes, I know.  They would have had to change the title.  But besides the title, were women not part of juries in this time period?  Or perhaps not juries in which it was a murder trial?  I question this for one reason - there was a women's restroom in the jury deliberation room.  That just struck me as odd if there were never any women on juries at this time.  Was a simply screen blooper?  I'll let you do the research.  Maybe someone will post a comment in our blog for once...  Jason becomes impatient in waiting for anyone's comments.

Overall, I loved the quick pace of the movie.  Even knowing the outcome, the movie was still intriguing and drew you in throughout.  I love the little twists and turns, especially right off in the beginning when the one man presents the identical knife.  It seemed to me all the other men just wanted to go home and simply vote guilty to get out of the courtroom.  This one man though had been thinking the issues over for days, finding that important knife while he was out walking.  Every little twist turned another man's decision.  However, even nearing the end, you can't help but think, will they really be able to come to a unanimous decision, having started out with only one man voting not guilty?   I guess you'll just have to read the play or watch the movie. 

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