Superb examination of human dynamics (R.l.P. Sidney Lumet)

Rating: 10/10 (9 April 2011)

Director Sidney Lumet has passed on. May he rest in peace.
Twelve Angry Men exhausts one in the search for superlatives. All but a few minutes at the beginning are set in a single, nondescript jury room, consisting of, essentially, the table and twelve chairs, a closet for hanging coats and hats, a water cooler, a fan that only works for half of the movie, restrooms and windows overlooking a generic view of a city which happens to be New York but which could as well be any other metropolis. Within this sparse environment, director Lumet crafts a riveting drama from Reginald Rose's original story.
Twelve Angry Men does employ some major elements of dramatic license, and some criticize it for them. A few are: juror #8's walk through the defendant's neighborhood and purchase of a switchblade knife constitute jury research, a no-no, not to mention the implausibility of a juror getting away with bringing one into a jury room. The test of the time for a witness to walk a certain distance is a jury experiment, also disallowed. Either would be grounds for a mistrial.
I do not consider these flaws. First, this is not like a modern courtroom drama, trying to realistically dramatize our system of justice. It is a drama about people, their passions and prejudices and the tension that rises high when twelve people are faced with the need to find unanimous agreement on a subject as emotionally charged as murder, with so much at stake, forced to subjugate their freedom to think, feel and speak independently and unchallenged under pressure from eleven others trying to do the same in that search for universal agreement. Jury deliberation is the vehicle for creating this environment. Some limited bending the reality in ways that are implausible only because of the rules of the real world is no crime.
A movie trying to be faithful to the process of jury deliberation would consist almost entirely of people sitting around a table talking. It's hard to imagine making a decent drama out of that. Dramatic license, when properly chosen and limited, is no detriment.
The characters and the superbly cast performers characterizing them are wonderfully diverse and defined, from hesitant and mild-mannered to brash and arrogant, stiff and cerebral to low and bigoted, idealistic and forthright to weak and manipulable, simple and quiet to vengeful and enraged. There is a distinct dynamic to every combination and interaction, and the human condition and spirit are uniquely explored in each of them. Each is a drama in itself and at the same time one piece of a whole seamlessly joined with all of the others.
This movie also contradicts the cynical view that society is hopeless. Despite the differences of intelligence, personality, integrity, values and ethics among these people, ultimately a basic desire to do the right thing surfaces in each one.
A black-and-white cinematic masterpiece, this film is not for those numbed by dazzling effects and wall-to-wall "action." For those moved by a brilliant view into the core of what it means to be human, this will ring true for a long time.