A Masterpiece

Rating: 10/10 (13 June 2019)

12 Angry Men is a masterpiece. I don't think it would be an exaggeration to say it's as close a film can get to being flawless.
The premise is simple: twelve men on a jury have to decide whether a young man is guilty of committing a murder or not. The film is all-dialogue and virtually the entire runtime takes place in a single room.
What makes the film truly special is how its individual aspects fit together so well.
The writing is immediately gripping and does not waste a single moment of screentime - every piece of dialogue in the film has a purpose to serve in the tightly-woven story. Things that are alluded to or spoken about previously are brought up again in later dialogue. Not only does this help build the characters, but it also plays an important role in the story when a character contradicts their own argument or proves another's point unintentionally, for example.
Adding to this, all of the characters are unique and distinct from one another. You quickly get a sense of each character's personality and who they are through their dialogue, appearance, body language, and how they speak. This is made all the more vital due to the fact that the audience is not even told the names of the jurors - we end up knowing them purely by their personalities. Needless to say, the acting required to pull this off is incredibly impressive.
Also, I love the camerawork in this. Many parts of the film are comprised of long takes where the camera is panning around the room or from character to character. Other times, the camera will cut to a close-up of a character's face or slowly zoom in. It works incredibly well in the telling of the story and accentuates the brilliant acting.
I honestly do not have a single complaint about this film. It is immensely impressive in every way and I find it thoroughly interesting every time I watch it. As far as I'm concerned, it is an essential viewing and I can not recommend it highly enough.