12 Angry Men

~ Movie Review ~

12 Angry Men (1957)

It's surprising, really, how a film with no special effects, no high-speed car chase, and no romantic side-plot can be so engaging. 12 Angry Men was playing this afternoon on Turner Classic Movies, and I couldn't resist watching it for the second time. I confess that I've never seen the first few minutes of the film. It was already on, both times I just happened to flip by and see it. I never really intended to watch the whole movie; I was just going to watch for a few minutes to see what it was about, but the plot pulled me in within minutes and I couldn't turn it off. Henry Fonda was amazing in the role of an Architect named Davis, the sole voice of dissent in a trial of a boy accused of killing his father. Davis (Fonda) is the only juror who is not certain beyond a reasonable doubt that the young man is guilty, and must try to persuade his peers to evaluate the matter beyond their initial emotion-based judgments. Almost the entire movie takes place in the jury room.

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A study of contrasts in human character under the stress of grave responsibility, the movie's stars have been described as one of the finest ensembles of character actors ever assembled, and includes Henry Fonda, Lee J. Cobb, Ed Begley, John Fiedler, E.G. Marshall, Jack Warden, Ed Binns, Martin Balsam, Jack Klugman, George Voskovec, Robert Webber, and Joseph Sweeney (his last appearance in motion pictures). 12 Angry Men is highly regarded from both a critical and popular viewpoint; Roger Ebert lists it as one of his "Great Movies", and it has been consistently ranked in the top 15 of the Internet Movie Database Top 250 List. (From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)

I give this movie 5 out of 5 stars. *****

~*Word of the day*~

Yume (Japanese)

Meaning: Dream
Thoughts and pictures in the mind that come mostly during sleep.