I am a big fan of the classics. I am kind of sick in that way actually: I feel that if you don't watch the classics, there is no point watching the rest. I know that does not make sense, that is why I said it is sick!
This one is an excelent one and one of the best performance of Mr. Fonda: with all due respect for his comedy performances or the ones in the Westerns, I just love the smart, critic, brave, brilliant architect-jury member we see here.
Fonda aside, this movie is very original. The story is very basic: a young man is accused with the homicide of his father and the jury has to decide whether he is guilty. However, this is not another courtroom drama, because there is no courtroom!
The focus is entirley on the jury: we only see these 12 men in the same room and a bathroom for the whole movie. Nothing else. Yet, this film is far from boring. The discussions, the accusations, the prejudices, the logic, the arguments fill up the time and the space in a perfect armony and combination.
It all works because, led by Fonda, these men turn their minds around, fighting against their own ghosts and bringing into their decision their own lives' experiences and backgrounds. It is not a matter of finding the defendant guilty, but to admit that there is a reasonable doubt. Showing the others this is Fonda's job.
Seeing always the same people talking over the same thing in the same room for two hours risks to turn out boring. However, director Sidney Lumet shows a great talent in making us "be" in that room: I felt like I could actually feel the heat that these men were constantly complaining about!
As for the title, no better one could have been picked: 12 angry men, for the heat, for having to decide of a person's life, for having to miss the game, for having to confront each other, for having to confront themselves. Angry but, in the end, rational.
Director: Sidney Lumet
Writer: Reginald Rose (story)
Stars: Henry Fonda, Lee J. Cobb and Martin Balsam
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