A Jury room thriller like no other!!

Rating: Null/10 (5 February 2002)

Justice, racism and social differences. These are the issues explored in "12 angry men", a film by Sidney Lumet about a Jury that has to decide the future of a young man accused of murdering his father.
Set in New York in 1957, this film, even though the script is groundbreaking, could have been a boring piece of cinema if it were not for its director; making his feature film debut, Sidney Lumet shows his expertise in the craft of cinema by maintaining the tension throughout the entire 90 minutes of film -and considering that it all transpires in just one room it makes it even more amazing.
The handling of the camera is superb, it makes you feel you are inside that jury room with the rest of the jurors. The acting is exquisite; Henry Fonda plays the only juror that believes the accused to be innocent while the others try to convince him otherwise. And that is the genius of this film, through those arguments between the jurors we are shown the differences of the characters; the guy from the poor neighborhood, the working man, the rich guy, the old man that nobody pays attention to and so on.
The dialogues have an incredible depth, dealing with issues such as justice and racism in a very subtle way and yet the plot never becomes a boring speech about political correctness. Although the stars of the movie are Henry Fonda (My Darling Clementine, Grapes of Wrath) and Lee J. Cobb (On the Waterfront, Exodus)- actor gods walking amongst men-, the supporting cast is so well put together that becomes the foundation of "12 angry men".
This film It is one of those rare opportunities where the three most important elements of a movie come together. They are, the script, the director and the acting. In this case they combine so perfectly with each other, they bond so well that it is impossible to divide this film into those three elements. You see the movie as a whole, as a well oiled machine where each and every gear contributes to make this classic something to remember.