A masterpiece of acting and filmmaking.

Rating: 10/10 (19 September 2013)

Brilliant film version of the televised play, scripted by the plays' author Reginald Rose, and produced by Rose and leading actor Henry Fonda. It's fascinating and compelling, offering memorable showcases to an amazing ensemble. The basic story is solid, but more than that, it's a nice look into a rich variety of characters, each with their own background and reasoning. It's all the more impressive for being a young Sidney Lumets' filmmaking debut; he makes this a highly charged, atmospheric experience.
An 18 year old teenager is on trial for murder, and the jury has retired to discuss the case. When things start out, 11 men are ready to convict the boy, and there's one holdout, juror no. eight (Fonda); Fonda doesn't necessarily believe the boy is innocent, but he's passionate in his belief that there's enough *reasonable doubt* in the matter to refrain from voting guilty. He encounters a fair amount of hostility at first, particularly from the excitable juror no. three (Lee J. Cobb), but as the night falls and a storm starts up, he wears down his fellow men a bit at a time, insisting on bringing up facts that he felt weren't adequately explained during the trail.
What's so wonderful about "12 Angry Men" is how believable it all is, right down to one juror, the baseball loving juror no. seven (Jack Warden) being willing to change his vote just to get the hell out of there, and the earnest juror no. 11 (George Voskovec) admonishing him for not doing this for the *right* reason. Each actor gets their own chance in the spotlight, and they're all superb. Cobb has the most intense role as a truly stubborn man who's gotten himself personally involved in the case; Ed Begley is equally potent as juror no. 10, another holdout. Martin Balsam, John Fiedler, E.G. Marshall, Jack Klugman, Edward Binns, Joseph Sweeney, and Robert Webber fill out the rest of this powerhouse cast.
While the story is quite good dramatically, it's not without some humour, some of it coming from adman Webber. Use of music is sparing, which only adds a sense of realism to the proceedings. One of the most striking moments is when most of the group turns their backs to Begley after he launches into a rather disconcerting rant.
Overall, this does deserve to be considered one of the finest American films of all time. It keeps the viewer riveted every step of the way.
10 out of 10.