Why 12 angry men should be number 1 on IMDb top 250 list.

Rating: 10/10 (24 July 2013)

I don't know whether I will give any movie a 10 on 10 rating ever in my life again, but 12 angry men is such a movie even a whole 10 is an understatement to describe it's magnitude and brilliance.
I strictly follow the IMDb top 250 list and I have made it my personal mission to see and understand each one of them to the best of my ability. So obviously when I saw 'The Shawshank Redemption' on number one I saw it and gained a perception that it was the most complete and meticulous movie I have ever seen. But that was until the day I witnessed '12 Angry Men'.
Personally, I am not a very big admirer of court room drama or anything related to court room drama. There are very few court room dramas which I like. So I wanted to try this movie out as I heard a lot from my fellow movie buffs. Black and white picture and the camera rolled on filming each and every corner of the New York City courthouse. From the initial scenes I thought that I was in for a boring court room drama. But I was kind of optimistic when the scene of court room was over in some minutes and the 12 jury members came into the room. From there I was mesmerized.
Short, crisp, witty, and outstanding are some of the adjectives which I can use. The way the movie portrays the differing mindsets of the jury members and especially my personal favorite Juror number 5 played by Lee.J.Cobb, it gives the movie a different and unusual edge which I don't find in other dramas.
It will be cruel of me to compare 'Shawhshank Redemption' and '12 Angry Men' but when it is a matter of ranking there must be some aspects where the both can be compared. Both of the movies are excellent in their own ways. But, for me 12 Angry men takes the edge over Shawshank Redemption in the area of script and idea. Shawshank redemption spans over a variety of areas and characters which in itself gives the movie an edge over others, although I am not questioning the acting capabilities of Morgan Freeman and Tim Robbins. I was engrossed and enthusiastic throughout the whole movie and it gripped me. But to create that same effect in a small and claustrophobic room of a courthouse is according to me a much more arduous. 12 angry men doesn't have a huge surrounding which elevates the viewers experience of seeing the movie apart from the dialogues. It only had 12 rational, emotional, and sweaty jurors who were in an intense deliberation of murder case.
Another small fact which I noticed in the movie was the close up shot of the young boy whose trial was going on. That shot must have lasted for only seconds, but those that small face shot captured the sadness, bewilderment, abhorrence and insecurity of the boy. For me, that small scene was one of the best schtick I have ever seen.
Although I have no problem with seeing long movies which span for 3 to 4 hours, but I got my so called 'viewer's satisfaction' in one and almost two hours on seeing 12 Angry Men and that too to an extent a little more gratification than 'Shawshank Redemption'.
For me, 12 Angry Men till now is the best flick I have seen till date. I am waiting for such a film who can knock this one from the mantle. Till then, next time.