This courtroom drama
is rated second in AFI's 10 Top 10 Courtroom Drama, behind the classic To
Kill a Mockingbird. Although the movie is not as great as To
Kill a Mockingbird, it does boast excellent acting and a nice view of
how the human mind works.
Most of the entire
movie took place in the jury room. The total time spent outside was just three
minutes out of the full 96, and the time inside exposes you to how judgmental
the world is.
This drama was adapted
from a teleplay of the same name by Reginald Rose, whose screenplay for 12
Angry Men was initially produced for the CBS program Studio One in 1954.
The film tells the
story of a jury made up of 12 men as they deliberate the guilt or acquittal of
a defendant, based on reasonable doubt brought up by one of the jurors. Juror 8
(Henry Fonda) was the one who raised the doubt and acted as the movie’s protagonist.
Juror 8 had the herculean task of proving to the others that his reasonable doubt was valid. In the United States (both then and now), a verdict in most criminal jury trials must be unanimous.
As the movie went on, you see how some jurors began to see things from Juror 8’s point of view, while others remained adamant.
The movie’s main antagonist was Juror 3, a stubborn, disrespectful man who refused to be swayed even when others were convinced otherwise. By doing so, he kept some jurors on his side, insisting the defendant was guilty.
The movie does have its own issues, like lack of representation, and the way it focuses only on the jurors, simplifying the legal process to just what they think and not what the lawyers have done. All these, and the way the personal lives of the jurors spilled into their verdict, can make the whole thing seem very unrealistic.
12 Angry Men was remade for television in 1997. Directed by William Friedkin, the remake starred Jack Lemmon as one of the jurors. Most of the action and dialogue are identical to the original, although there was no smoking in the jury room and the focus shifted to income and pop culture.
12 Angry Men’s teleplay has been adapted into many TV series over the years, including Hancock's Half Hour, Picket Fences, Perfect Strangers, Family Matters, The Dead Zone, Early Edition, The Odd Couple, King of the Hill, Matlock, 7th Heaven, Veronica Mars, Monk, Hey Arnold!, Peep Show, My Wife and Kids, Robot Chicken, and The Simpsons.
The movie is exceptionally captivating. You won’t regret the time spent watching it.
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