Simple Formula, Colossal Result

Rating: 10/10 (11 February 2011)

I saw this film for the first time a few months ago and i was automatically annoyed with myself for having not done so long before. To put short, this film is one of the best ever made and rightfully deserves its position on IMDBs top 250 list.
To be honest, there's not a lot that one can comment about the film. There are no special effects, dramatic monologues or defining scenes to discuss and really that's what makes this film the phenomenon that it is. It is quite easy to see where the film is going to go and how it is going to end early on but none of that really matters because excuse the sugary metaphor but it is the journey you embark on with the jurors, in particular Henry Fonda, that defines the film. The way in which each different aspect of the court case is re-evaluated is film heaven but also a hard hitter when reflecting on the seriousness that the film makes about judicial systems and the responsibility of juries to make thorough rational decisions.
If you had told me before the film that it was as near as makes no difference one scene with 12 men conversing for 100 minutes (or whatever), i would have kindly asked you if we could watch Die Hard instead, but oh what an ignorant error that would have been. 12 Angry Men is magnificent.