87 Twelve Angry Men

Brief Synopsis (from Netflix)
Knowing full well that a guilty verdict means death, a jury of 12 men (including Jack Warden and Jack Klugman) must decide the fate of an 18-year-old boy accused of fatally stabbing his father. But only one juror (Henry Fonda) wants to take the time to coolly deliberate the case. Sidney Lumet (Network) made his directorial debut with this Oscar-nominated drama that illuminates all the petty impediments on the path to justice.


*Spoiler Alert* While not exactly spoiling, some of the opinions below deal with conversations deep into the jury's deliberations, and may effect the viewing of the earlier arguments.


Bryan


It's always difficult to keep personal prejudice out of a thing like this. And wherever you run into it, prejudice always obscures the truth. I don't really know what the truth is. I don't suppose anybody will ever really know. Nine of us now seem to feel that the defendant is innocent, but we're just gambling on probabilities- we may be wrong. We may be trying to let a guilty man go free, I don't know. But we have a reasonable doubt, and that's something that's very valuable in our system. No Jury can declare a man guilty unless it's SURE. We nine can't understand how you three are still so sure. Maybe you can tell us.


This movie is phenomenal. So good, in fact, that the three people I viewed the movie with spent a half hour after the credits rolled discussing whether a movie like this could be successful today. While we disagreed on whether this format film would be picked up by cinemas, the underlying assumption throughout was that this was a quality film, and we would like more like it.


There are plenty of technical things that I enjoyed, like how changing the weather could change the feel of a set despite the actors never leaving the room. And the multitudes of sociological and psychological motifs you could draw upon are boundless. But I'll allow those kinds of musings to my colleagues.


What I think I enjoyed the most about this viewing was that I perceived the film rather patriotically. In a society where OJ Simpson can purchase justice, it was nice to see a film that illustrates how the system should work. I have a considerable personal interest in the law, and it is not common that the judicial branch of our government is singled out for patriotic theater. Later on we'll get to see the filibuster in Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, and and I've seen plenty of films showing a patriotic president struggling with his responsibilities. This is not surprising- in most places in the country, those two branches of government are the most directly democratic. People don't elect judges where I live (and don't in most places), and so the judicial branch is separated from the general public in a lot of ways. Getting into the Jury Room is a great exception to this, and this movie executed it very effectively.


It was not preaching from a soapbox. The same way that Juror #8 (Henry Fonda) was more effective by calmly laying out details, this film wasn't a Sousa march on the Forth of July, but left the viewer with faith in a system that usually only gets attention when it fails. By being subdued in this manner, it manages to not come off as propaganda, while effectively showing how the American judicial system is something to be proud of.


It also shows the system's flaw, which is the same flaw that plagues every attempt at governance: MAN. Some of the jurors are deeply flawed. Considering the movie was filmed in 1957 I'm impressed with how well they strove to show a cross section of society. A jury of our peers indeed. In order for any society composed of humans to work effectively, some of the darker aspects of humanity need to be overcome. I chose the quote above for a reason- it shows how the conversation that is supposed to occur in the jury room is framed in a way that is supposed to avoid prejudice, and revenge, and bitterness, and all the multitude of human emotions that can muddy the waters.


The statement on patriotism was even more impressive, considering the film's time period. We may argue that a movie with a single set and no action other than script may not be a movie that the film industry would embrace today, but looking back I'm impressed that a society that would have had black and white restrooms in the theater(and even black and white theaters) picked up such a treatise on equality. Impressive.


Final Thought- This absolutely belongs on a list of the greatest movies ever made, and belongs higher than 87.


Jason


This gentleman has been standing alone against us. Now he doesn't say that the boy is not guilty, he just isn't sure. Well it's not easy to stand alone against the ridicule of others, so he gambled for support and I gave it to him. I respect his motives. The boy is probably guilty, but - eh, I want to hear more. Right now the vote is ten to two.


This movie should be seen by everyone. So if you have not seen it then you should stop reading this right now and go watch it. Don't worry I'll still be here when you get back.


OK, now that we've all seen it I can continue. This movie is one of my favorites. Its so simple yet so complex, and I think that it can be appreciated by almost anyone. Lets start with the first thing that makes this movie so good, the actors. All 12 of our "angry" men are spot on. Each one fills a niche and without that person the movie would feel like a puzzle missing it's final piece. I mean what can I say about Henry Fonda, he's perfect, but even people like Jack Klugman who had a smaller role were very convincing and gave the audience someone to identify with. No matter who you are you can pick one of the 12 and identify with them.


The setting in this movie is a room. Just one room. This room is like almost any other room it has a table some chairs and a few windows. Its actually kinda boring and plain. That is why its perfect. The moment they step in you realize that these men are going to be stuck in here until the verdict is reached. I don't know about you but if I get stuck in a room without some form of entertainment for more then an hour I get very antsy. Then you find out its the hottest day of the year and the fan doesn't work. With what seems lke lttle effort the director is able to take an already awful experience and make it so much worse. Few movies can pull off a single setting correctly. This movie did it, in my opinion, perfectly.


On a more personal note I should add that this movie is actually the reason I wanted to take on this task of watching the 100 greatest movies. Like me my father is a huge movie buff (which is probably why I am), and he made a real effort to show me some of his favorite movies of all times, many of which are on this list. One day when I was 10 he showed me 12 Angy Men and I loved it. Ever since that moment I realized that a movie didn't have to have big explosions and cool death scenes to be great. So when I saw that this movie was only 87 on the list I thought that there has to be at least one or two movies from this list that I haven't seen that are as good, if not better, then this one. So I guess in a round about way with out my dad I wouldn't be doing this blog, so thanks pops I appreciate it more then you know.

Final Thought- This movie is pretty close to perfect. It goes way above 87 for me. Its almost definately in my top 10


Angel

Listen to me. We're... This kid on trial here... his type, well, don't you know about them? There's a, there's a danger here. These people are dangerous. They're wild. Listen to me. Listen.


I don't really think that I have much more to say that has yet to be said by the two above me. We all gush about how good this film really is, and that is all true.


For me this film felt like the archetype and inspiration for tons and tons of films. Watching it for the first time, I was constantly being reminded of parts of other movies that felt like they were being taken from this film. It is a bit like watching the best bits of your favorite dramas.


For me the big thing is that this was the first real black and white movie that I had ever sat and watched the whole way through. It gave me an appreciation for the way some of the older movies were made. Seeing a movie that was almost totally shot in one place and only having the 10 jurors. It was so simple an idea, but it had a deepness and complexity that we have not seen today. It is very ballsy move to have such a small cast. Each of the jurors had to be different and dynamic enough to hold the viewers attention and drive the movie forward. I really feel that it is a movie that would not be created today because of the depth and complexity it held while still being a very minimalist film.


Final Thoughts- I really did enjoy watching this film. I enjoyed it just as much the second time around when I could pay more attention to the details as I already knew what was going to happen by the end. I am glad that it is on the list and should I make one of my own it will definitely be on that list.


Alfredo 

I'm not used to supposin'. I'm just a workin' man. My boss does all the supposin' - but I'll try one. Supposin' you talk us all out of this and, uh, the kid really did knife his father


I liked this movie. That's kind of bland in comparison to what my cohorts had to say about the film but tat's probably because they liked it more than I did. Not that I thought this was an average run of the mill movie. As I said I liked it. Quite a bit even I just don't really think there's much else to say about the film that hasn't already been said. Although I must say I greatly agree with two things that were said by Jason and Bryan. One would be incredibly hard pressed to find a role, portrayed by these fine actors, you couldn't identify with and more importantly in a perfect world this is how every single case by every single group of jurors should be handled be it a purse snatching, murder or fraud


Final Thoughts- As I said I enjoyed this movie. I don't think I could go so far as to say it's one of my all time favorite movies but if I had to make a list of one hundred great movies. This would easily make my list maybe little lower on mine but only by a couple of points.