12 Angry Men

I didn't think I'd enjoy 12 white men arguing and yapping their asses off but here I am, I thought this was just another pretentious classic movie. It's really interesting how a whole 97 minutes of just 12 dudes in a room could be one of the greatest movies of all time. This film has quite the simple premise, a murder case with a "not guilty" vote against eleven "guilty" votes. Of course, being a movie about how jurors decide whether a person should die or not, this film relies heavily on its dialogue. The dialogue in 12 Angry Men is very gripping, every line, every piece of information provides us with new insights and helps the story progress. Juror 8 probably has the most important role in this film as he is the one who verbally planted the seed of doubt in the other 11 jurors. Although people always seem to think that the "heart" and the "brain" tend to contradict each other, this film has brilliantly proved otherwise. Juror 8 had successfully convince the other jurors to think, to question the provided evidence in this case. After all, a man's life is at stake. This film managed to bring up several issues without presenting it in the face. It questions your moral beliefs, the justice system, and your prejudices. Even though we're made to root for juror 8 and think that he's the good guy, he's essentially the same as juror 3 who's adamant that the boy is guilty. The only difference is juror 8 is more persuasive, the way he carries himself and his eloquent speech is what convinced the other jurors. Does he truly believe that the man is innocent or is he just trying to prove a point? In the end, they're betting on a possibility, what if the boy is guilty and what if he's not? The thing that I like about this film is how they decided to not disclose whether did the boy actually killed his father or not. Also, it's really impressive how each one of them have really distinct personalities and how their dynamics change throughout the movie. At first, I didn't think that I'd be able to even differentiate them being 12 white men with very similar suits, but the performance of all the actors proved otherwise. Henry Fonda is most probably the star of the show as he managed to be a very charming and charismatic character. The atmosphere is also insanely real, you could almost feel how sweaty and stuffy the room must've felt. Although I've said this before what really carries this film is the plot and storyline which is perfectly executed by the actors. All in all, 12 Angry Men is such a timeless masterpiece in its simplicity.