Proves to be a Fonda exclusive

Rating: 10/10 (6 September 2007)

Let's just say, Henry Fonda was a cream pie and Lee J. Cobb was a apple pie. Both taste good. Combine together with some cherry sauce and a nice strawberry float to wash it down, you have the perfectly combined meal for tea, even if it's only a simple meal. This is the best way to describe Sidney Lumet's 12 Angry Men. It's simple. Only three minutes of the movie was shot outside the sixteen by twenty-four 'jury room'. We expect the landscapes and the magnificent out-of-life sets and camera landscapes to grasp our awe. 12 Angry Men only has a small, dusty jury room to pull an audience. Believe me, it succeeds memorably.
The story starts as we see an 18 year old teenager is accused of murder in the first degree. Twelve jurors are assigned to handle this case. Clearly, as we see no one cares about the case, except for juror #8. His actions and thoughts that spring alive in that room is what makes this offering a fruitful and simple lesson about a man and the decisions he has to make right.
Lumet creates a ensemble cast out of thin air. 12 Angry Men is awesomely simple, touching, most of all funny. I see an even longer future ahead for this movie.