#88: 12 ANGRY MEN (1957)

 

THRILL SCALE 1-10

6

HAVE I SEEN IT BEFORE?

Yes, but I can't entirely remember how long ago it was. Maybe in high school (early 2000s)

BEST SEQUENCE

There are lots of big turning points to choose from, lots of moments when Juror #8 manages to persuade another juror to reconsider their assumptions. Any of these moments could qualify as the best sequence. I'm going to choose the scene in which Juror #4, the most logical and least emotional juror, and one of the last holdouts, is convinced that the eyewitness testimony he's been focusing on may not have been as reliable as he thought.

BEST LINE

"He didn't change his vote...I did!" - Juror #9, the first one to realize Juror #8 may be on to something here

ROTTEN TOMATOES SCORE

100%

ROTTEN TOMATOES CRITICS CONSENSUS

"Sidney Lumet's feature debut is a superbly written, dramatically effective courtroom thriller that rightfully stands as a modern classic."

IMDB SYNOPSIS

"A jury holdout attempts to prevent a miscarriage of justice by forcing his colleagues to reconsider the evidence."

THOUGHTS

• When I first decided on the criteria to use when reviewing these movies, I wanted to meet the American Film Institute at their level. This is meant to be a list of the most thrilling American movies ever made, so the only real score or grade I'm giving these movies is a 1-10 on the Thrill Scale
• And so far, in approaching these movies assessing their ability to thrill me, I'd say the numbers mostly line up with how much I enjoyed the viewing experience and quality of the movie in general. However, I knew there would be some cases in which a movie's Thrill Score would be low despite a movie being undeniably excellent. This is one of those cases
• 12 Angry Men is a terrific movie. The acting is great, and I really admire the plot structure. A jury of twelve men need to decide whether or not to convict a young man of murder, which would lead to a mandatory death penalty. Eleven of the men start the movie convinced of the defendant's guilt, but only one of them, Juror #8, thinks there's enough reasonable doubt that should be discussed and explored. He methodically and logically convinces his fellow jurors to reassess their conclusions and, in some cases, their prejudices. The whole movie happens in real time, and in one room - a slightly claustrophobic jury room
• Incidentally, in referring to the characters by number, I'm not being deliberately vague - the characters don't actually use their names throughout the movie, and are solely referred to by number. Although it's worth mentioning, Juror #8 is indeed the hero of the movie, played by Henry Fonda
• So if there are any thrills to be found in this movie they're purely intellectual. Voices get raised and tempers flare fairly frequently, but no punches are thrown, and there are no incredibly dramatic reveals accompanied by musical stings. The thrill comes from the process - seeing the evidence get analyzed, making the same conclusions as the characters, and watching the balance of the numbers start to shift. It's thrilling to watch the way the movie concludes just in terms of plot, and it's very satisfying each time the characters hold a vote and we see who has changed their verdict
• And having said all that, I'm still not entirely sure if a 6/10 on the Thrill Scale is correct. Am I goosing the number a little because I think this is such a good movie, despite not being conventionally thrilling, especially compared to some of the other movies on this list? Or do I need to assess this on a different level? Does the tight plotting and structure of the movie deliver more thrills than I'm giving it credit for?
• I'm going to leave it at 6. Just know, if you haven't seen it yet, you should
• Finally, Henry Fonda was an excellent protagonist, but the whole cast is great, including a number of actors I recognized from various movies and TV shows. Probably the most fun one to point out, though, is Juror #2 played by John Fiedler. He's the balding man in glasses in this clip. And you may know him better as the original voice of Piglet from Winnie the Pooh:

Up next: The Thing from Another World, or just The Thing, from 1951, which will then be followed by John Carpenter's version from 1982. I've seen Carpenter's, and it's one of my favourites, but I haven't seen the original so I'm excited to do a direct comparison!