A masterpiece of debate

Rating: 10/10 (5 December 2015)

12 Angry Men, a classic movie that is truly one that can be enjoyed by anyone no matter what genre of film you might prefer. The film is one of thrills but done in a way where it is all in the dialogue and the body language of the 12 men set up to decide the fate of a young man who is on trial for the murder of his father. The movie also explores the 12 men's lives and also any prejudices they hold against the young man on trial, different perspectives are had throughout the movie not just on the murder itself but also on the man's back story as a child and how his father brought him up. A masterpiece simply in the way that it entices the viewer so that your focus is never lost and draws you in as you explore the case in one room with one table and 12 chairs.
It can't be easy to create something so astounding from 90 odd minutes of people sat in a room talking, but this achieves it and achieves it pretty fast too, it doesn't take long before you're drawn in yourself and want to know more. Sidney Lumet directs and does a fine job, he is the person really responsible for making this feel so damn well exciting I guess and combined with Reginald Rose's story and script it makes it so much more of a classic. Lumet gets the very best out of his actors and really pulls the strings, even little things like when the men move around the room; it makes what they are saying that little bit better.
Henry Fonda as juror number 8 really leads the cast, after all his character is the one who at first wants to talk about the case and debate it when everyone else thinks the kid should fry. Fonda is absolutely brilliant in his role; his calm demeanour mixed with his impassioned speeches on the case make his character one of the true good guys of cinema. Lee J. Cobb's character stands out a lot because of his overall anger at the boy involved in the case, Juror number 3 who Cobb plays is one of the stand outs because of his behaviour during the debating being done. Each juror is different, from the angry to the very meek, the guy who wants to get out of the place for a baseball game to the guy who grew up in a slum just like the young man on trial did. They each bring not only different personalities but back stories too with some loud mouths and some quiet and really indifferent to the case and that together is another reason why this is flawless cinema.
12 Angry Men deserves its place in the classics of cinema, not just for its acting or its directing etc but mostly because it's a story that all can enjoy and I think most who watch this can say they at least wanted to see how it ends. As said before it cannot be easy to create something like this, all in the same room and not make the audience bored by it all, but it has enough great things in it to make it more than just a good or great film, it's pretty much perfect. Another thing that this film does which is fantastic is you start to visualize the case at hand, I mean sure you listen to the jurors talk but sometimes it makes you start imagining all the things going on that the case entails, from the murder, the train and to the old man's story, the film never fails to bring new things up and shake the case about a little.