12 Hommes en colère

This is one of those movies where everything could go wrong. The story is as simple as it can be: 12 men are jurors on a open and shut murder trial, but one man thinks that another persons life deserves at least some thought on the matter and votes not guilty. From this point on we have 12 actors and a closed room. This could be the most boring film ever made. Lumet however is a master of mise-en-scene and provides a tense movie that keeps you locked on from the word "go". The dialogs are great and supported by incredibly talented actors. Joel Schumacher in Phone Booth needed to see this movie and draw a few ideas on how to make a character built, dialog driven movie. A must see for everyone.

This film is investing from start to finish. None of the performances feel like actors playing characters, but instead as people who just happen to be being filmed. The dialogue is phenomenal, the camerawork is absolutely phenomenal, the heat and claustrophobia of the environment sets in right away and gradually gets more and more intense. This film is absolutely phenomenal, and I would recommend it to absolutely anybody who enjoys film as an art form.

There are a few wonderful courtroom dramas out there, Anatomy of a Murder, To Kill a Mockingbird and Witness for the Prosecution immediately springing to mind. 12 Angry Men is so brilliant, it could very well be the definitive courtroom drama on film. Sidney Lumet's direction is masterly, and although the action takes place on one set(an actual New York drawing room) there are a huge variety of innovative camera angles and visual set-ups. The screenplay is sophisticated and smart, and the story is compelling and intelligent. The film is also brilliantly made, and the acting is superb. Henry Fonda especially dominates the film, with an integrity that makes his character so wonderful, but the other actors are wonderful as well, Ed Begley, Jack Warden, John Fiedler, Lee J Cobb, Rudy Bond et al. are all impeccable support to Fonda. Overall, brilliant courtroom drama. 10/10 Bethany Cox

This film deserves to be on anyone's list of top films. My problem is that it is so perfect, so seamlessly polished, it is hard to appreciate the individual excellences.

The acting is top notch. I believe that monologue acting is quite a bit simpler than real reactive ensemble acting. Most of what we see today is monologues pretending to be conversations. But in this film, we have utter mastery of throwing emotions. Once the air becomes filled with human essence, it is hard to not get soaked ourselves as the camera moves through the thick atmosphere. Yes, there are slight differences in how each actor projects (Fonda internally, Balsam completely on his skin...) but the ensemble presents one vision to the audience.

The writing is snappy too. You can tell it was worked and worked and worried, going through several generations. It is easy to be mesmerized by this writing and acting, and miss the rare accomplishment of the camera-work. This camera is so fluid, you forget you are in one room. It moves from being a human observer, to being omniscient, to being a target. It is smart enough to seldom center on the element of most importance, so expands the field to all men.

This is very hard. Very hard, to make the camera human. So much easier to do what we see today -- acknowledge the machinery and jigger with it. Do we have a filmmaker today who could do this?

Ted's Evaluation -- 4 of 3: Every cineliterate person should experience this.

Intense courtroom drama which has 12 very different people, all males, struggling with a murder case involving a young Puerto Rican boy that seems cut-and-dried. However, juror Henry Fonda does not believe it to be as sure-fire as it appears. He votes not guilty and what follows is a chain of events that will test the views, beliefs and thoughts of the other 11 members. Fonda is great, but Lee J. Cobb steals every scene (and that is not easy to do in a film like this). Ed Begley, Martin Balsam, Jack Warden, Jack Klugman, Joseph Sweeney, E.G. Marshall and John Fiedler are among the other individuals caught in a situation that is much more difficult than it appears on the surface. An excellent character-study that should be studied and embraced by all present and future film-makers. 5 stars out of 5.