Listening to those tummies growl makes me think they ought to be called 12 Hungry Men.

Rating: 9/10 (2 March 2017)

This is a pretty good example of why execution will always matter more than any kind of extravagant production or over inflated budget. Anyone even remotely familiar with this film understands that it's just 12 guys in a room arguing over a trial. It's a concept so simple on a visual level that it could just as easily be a middle school stage production and you could probably still find much of the iconography which comprises the setting. Again though, none of that takes away from this film.
To begin with, this film couldn't have been shot better. Sidney Lumet's background in television allows him to take full advantage of shifting lenses and ensemble shots which give the film an escalating sense of tension that in indispensable in convincing the audience that the dialogue happening between these men is A) taking them a long time and B) is physically, mentally and emotionally taxing for them. It's pretty easy to imagine a more amateur director shooting this film in a more flat and repetitive way. Thankfully Lumet isn't an amateur. Every shot and cut is so purposeful in this film. Not a frame is wasted and the one room setting at no point becomes tiresome.
This film really reaches it's greatest heights with it's characters, despite how wonderful the visual narrative is. All 12 men are unique characters. None of them fades in to the background and they all bring a unique perspective to the case in question. You get a really good sense of the lives they lead outside the confines of this room they're in. At a certain point you get to have such a good understanding of the different men that whenever a knew point of debate is brought up you can start to piece together how each one of them is going to process it and how it might affect their ultimate decision on the case. It's really a bit of a difficult balancing act. In the end there are certain members of the jury which naturally have to take a more dominant role in the story than the others, but at the same time you have to allot the others time to bring depth to their character. Lumet and the actors put it all together flawlessly.
One you thing you might notice when watching this film is the general lack of music. I think ultimately it's better that way. In all likelihood music would have been more of a distraction than a tool in enhancing the tone of a given scene. There is music of course, but the reservation with which it is used ends up giving it more relevance to the story than if it book-ended every scene in the film. This film is in the dialogue and character interaction, and really there isn't enough room for any kind of over the top score, but again, that doesn't detract from the experience in any way.
Check it out if you haven't. It's great. 9/10.