12 Angry Men (1957)

The movie is a pure masterpiece. Filmed in a room with no extensive set design, costume design etc, yet it makes the viewer get attached by the acting and the dialogues of the actors. It is a proof that a great idea can easily lead to a masterpiece.As the title of the movie suggests, there are twelve men that have been randomly selected as jurors and they are responsible for making an important decision for the court, if a man is guilty or not.Eleven of them believe that the man is guilty while one is not sure. He tries to make them express their personal view on the case and explain why the do actually stick on their initial decision by making a contradiction on the facts and by presenting his personal opinion.Each of the characters and his background is revealed to the viewer, as well as why they have chosen to believe that the man is guilty. As the discussion proceeds and the contrast between them gets to a peak, each of them starts to revise the initial decision.

I do not often start my reviews with blunt and opinionated statements, but in this case, it's justified. "12 Angry Men" is righteously considered as one of the top 5 most genius movies ever made! I realize it changes quite frequently, but at the time I'm writing this user-comment, Sidney Lumet's amazing debut film is #5 in the IMDb Top 250! That's a fantastic accomplishment, especially if you consider this film is more than sixty years old, doesn't feature any computer-engineered special effects and hasn't got any geeky cult followings that dress up like the lead characters. Heck, if you take out the everlasting and manipulated feud between "The Shawshank Redemption" and "The Godfather", this "12 Angry Men" may even be the REAL #1! But "12 Angry Men" deserves all the superlatives you could possible use to describe it. Everything about this film is perfect, and if there's one film that literally everybody should be obliged to watch at least once in his/her lifetime, I think it ought to be this one. The original story by Reginal Rose is wondrously absorbing, intelligent, intense and still incredibly relevant even after 60 years. Rose's own adaptation into a movie screenplay is also amazing, with not a single word or piece of dialogue too much or too few. The ensemble cast exists of twelve hyper-professional actors that each give away one of the most impeccable performances of their careers; most notable Henry Fonda as the humane hero, Lee J. Cobb as the dogmatic narcissist and E.G. Marshall as the rigorous pundit. But the biggest geniuses remain director Sidney Lumet and his cameraman Boris Kaufman. If you think that a film that for 99% takes place in one and the same room will inevitably become boring and monotonous, just wait and look what brilliant opportunities there exist in terms of camera angles, lighting, zoom functions and sweat stains!

There is suspense and drama in this movie; It keeps you captivated the whole time. I highly recommend this movie. I really enjoyed this movie immensely.

In my opinion one of the greater ones out there. The atmosphere and the story line let you completely forget that it's all shot in one room.