Fonda casts a contagious shadow of a doubt

Rating: 10/10 (25 May 2012)

One room, twelve men and talk, talk, talk. Ninety minutes of film. Sounds like a bore, but turns out to be quite the opposite. The back room of a courthouse where a jury of ordinary men has to decide upon life and death becomes the place of first rate drama, where a seemingly insignificant shadow of a doubt makes people talk at least once more about what at first appeared to be a clear cut case. Henry Fonda with his understated play is in the lead of the doubters, supported by strong character actors like Lee J. Cobb, E.G. Marshall, Jack Klugman, Jack Warden or Martin Balsam.
The reluctant, some even clearly prejudiced members of the motley jury all look at the case from very different angles, but they are made real by distinguished acting and screenwriter Reginald Rose's crispy dialog, which never misses the mark. Also remarkable is the fact that the battle of the jurors is embedded in a highly believable environment - a hot day, people sweating, emotions getting the better of them, then a downpour outside, there are casual conversations about what's on people's minds in the breaks, restroom scenes which serve further character elaboration. Director Sidney Lumet on his part focuses on making the film as claustrophobic as he possibly can. He uses subtle camera tricks to gradually make the confined space even seem closer to the actors as the film progresses to add to the mounting intensity and the final shots are made from below eye level to reflect the change that has taken place. "12 Angry Men" above all is a captivating character study. It is not about solving a crime, but characters confronted with decision making and how they approach it. Exceptional film-making.
Side note: "12 Angry Men" was remade in 1997 with another outstanding ensemble cast headed by Jack Lemmon. A decent film, but no reason to miss the original.