12 Angry Men

The first Great Movie on the list was "12 Angry Men." It was released in 1957 and directed by Sidney Lumet. This is the third time I have seen the whole movie. We watched it in my middle school English class after reading the play. Back then I didn't think much of it. All I knew was I had to study it in school so it couldn't be that good. Years later I DVRed it on TCM to give it a second look. My attitude completely changed. A large part of my change in attitude came from the fact that I was more knowledgeable about film and had really come to appreciate it as an art form. Is the movie a "great movie?" Absolutely! There are several reasons.

First, it manages to be very effective despite confined to mostly one set. The whole movie is an exercise in claustrophobia exacerbated by extreme personalities. How would you feel being cooped up in a room with eleven other people on a scorching day with no air conditioning? The minimal number of sets becomes a whole character in the movie. That sense of closeness makes the personalities of the characters more believable. After being in a confined space with someone for an extended period of time your true colors would really begin to show, especially in a pressure situation like jury duty.

Second, the characters are some of the most well-developed I have seen in any movie. Period. Nowadays most characters in movies, if they are not the stars, come and go without you ever having to think about them again. Here every single character matters. We learn things about each and every person and for good reason. A case and point comes toward the end of the movie when Juror #3 (Lee J. Cobb), who has been voting guilty the entire movie, reveals something about his past that has lead him to be so obstinate about the case before him.

Third, and perhaps most important, the movie is one of the very few to deal with a part of the court system in a realistic way. Juror #8 (Henry Fonda) has a great line where he talks about how important the job of jury is and how important the court system is. The movie drives home the point without being preachy and waving the flag.

"12 Angry Men" is one of Sidney Lumet's many successes. Later he would go on to make "Network," "Serpico," and many others. This is a movie with no fancy camera tricks or special effects. It's completely driven by the personalities of the jurors and the tenseness of the situation. It makes for great entertainment and it is certainly a worthy "Great Movie."