Twelve angry men in one fine movie

Rating: 8/10 (25 August 2010)

In this, Sidney Lumet's debut feature, we're taken into the jury room as twelve jurors deliberate over the fate of a young man accused of murder. All of the evidence points to a guilty verdict but one juror is determined to explore every possibility for reasonable doubt, lest they send an innocent man to his death.
One remarkable thing about this film is that it unfolds almost completely in real time within a single room. While that might sound like a limitation, Sidney Lumet managed to keep the visuals interesting throughout, resulting in a well-deserved Oscar nomination. Meanwhile, Reginald Rose's taut, Oscar-nominated script deserves equal credit for keeping the narrative flowing.
Lastly, and perhaps most importantly, the cast is stellar. Henry Fonda turned in a solid performance in the lead role and all of the supporting actors gave it their all. In my mind, the standout performances came from Lee J. Cobb, Ed Begley & Jack Warden. However, the group as a whole is a diverse one and each of the actors contributes a unique piece to the puzzle.
My only complaint (a minor one) is that the mechanics of the script are sometimes overly apparent, particularly in the early stages when Fonda's character supposedly has only a vague apprehension about certain pieces of evidence. Luckily, when the story unfolds it is compelling enough that I can forgive the screenwriter's dramatic license in setting up the events.
At the moment this film is rated #8 among the top 250 films on this site. I think that it definitely deserves a spot on the list but the current ranking seems somewhat generous, especially when you consider that it's above the likes of "Casablanca", "Seven Samurai", "Chinatown", "2001: A Space Odyssey" and several other highly acclaimed films. So, by all means, see this movie but don't be surprised if it doesn't turn out to be one of the ten best films of all time.