too dated

Rating: 7/10 (13 October 2008)

The film 12 Angry Men might have been very good cinema for 1957, but in the 21st century it doesn't make a whole lot of sense.
The movie wears you down while characters spend more time bickering about bickering than actually going over testimony and evidence. It's like the Blair Witch Project, where the characters act loud and annoying, beating the audience into exhaustion. The characters in 12 Angry Men mostly argue with each other, often screaming, making the resolution more gratifying to the audience. It's a common trick.
*begin spoiler alert* Maybe we've gotten spoiled watching too much Monk and CSI and Law & Order, but as a legal drama the movie is confusing anyway. There's no discussion of blood trails or spatters. The defendant claimed there was a hole in his pants, but no pants were reviewed as evidence. Davis introduced a knife he bought as evidence in the jury room, which you can't do. The jury determined that the witness was nearsighted based on her nose. The jury decided a witness was incapable of running based on how he walked. The jury never discussed who else might have committed the murder. The thought-process behind the plot is so convoluted, it makes the whole movie frustrating to watch. *end spoiler alert*
The movie is OK for 11 year olds so certainly carries a lot of nostalgic value 60 year olds, but it's flawed and doesn't hold up as a timeless film.