12 Angry Men....You be the 13th Jury

Rating: 10/10 (23 November 2012)

Let me start off by saying that I've actually never seen a black and white film! Yes, its hard to believe that. But, I decided to watch this film as it was obviously one of the highest rated films and certainly the title sounded quite interesting. Without knowing anything about the movie, I went in to watch it and was stunned!
The first ten to fifteen minutes just introduces you to each of the juries in the most interesting way possible. You aren't introduced to them by their names, but you are to remember them by their faces and different personalities. It started off very quietly, and I'll admit...pretty boring. However, as soon as the murder issue was brought into the movie, I felt this sudden urge to watch the movie immediately from start to finish. At this point, I was in.
From here on in, its all filled with tension, friendship, loyalty, justice, truth and hatred. Its the best drama film I've ever seen, and certainly remains the greatest of the Mystery films.
What really makes this film stand out as an alone success? Its pretty much the way each character is introduced. '12 Angry Men' is the only film in history, that can give you whole bunches of characters and not give out their names and yet love the characters and the story. The plot is extremely simple and not too much happens, but its the way the film is executed that really stands out. If you think about it, at the end of the film not too many events happen. Its just different juries laying out their evidence to Jury 3 (mainly) about why the boy could be innocent of the crime of murdering his father. Its not a story that shows it from the boys perspective, nor any sort of action. In fact, the whole film takes place in this jury room. Wow!
Other strengths about this film are the incredible dialogue sequences and the masterful acting by each and every single one of the actors. At no point did any actor slack off, not even the old man. Speaking of the old man, he, apart from Jury 8 (the main jury) is the character I liked most. I also absolutely loved Jury 3, the one who detested the boy being innocent. The acting was masterful and his performance is also extremely powerful. I also enjoyed the man who looked a lot like Peter Cushing, the one who was 'believed' to be the first to say not guilty. He seemed great, as did the foreign jury. Pretty much every character was brilliant.
'12 Angry Men', overall, is a clear example that a film does not need to contain extensive amounts of special effects but its the dialogue, the plot, the characters and the acting that makes a film a success. Also, the better executed, the better the film and this film has such strength in every one of those aspects. Directors like George Lucas, should watch movies like '12 Angry Men' as well as his original Star Wars trilogy and understand what makes a good film. Its not CGI battles (not that they could've done it back then), not the action, not the stupid love story (Anakin and Padme) and definitely not stupid slapstick humor. '12 Angry Men' is definitely the greatest black and white film I've seen and its definitely a must see for everyone and deserves a high spot in my Top 20