55 - "12 Angry Men" (1957)

     12 Angry Men is one of those movies that sort of happened upon me accidentally. I was laying in bed sick one day and caught this movie on when there was nothing else playing and decided to watch it. However, the version I caught was made in 1997. I thought the movie was pretty good and decided to read a little bit more about it as I am curious about how movies are made and stuff like that. I learned that it was a remake of a 1957 Henry Fonda film that had terrific reviews. I decided to watch the original and boy was I blown away and it has remained one of my favorite films ever since. 12 Angry Men is about a jury of 12 men who are deciding the fate of a young Hispanic kid who is accused of murdering his father. From the first scenes, it appears to be an open and shut case. This film is not a courtroom drama though by any means as we hear no evidence or testimony about the trial. Every fact about the case that we get is after the fact as the jurors talk about it. There is a very brief prologue and a very brief epilogue scene in this movie but 99% of it takes place in the jury room with these 12 individuals. Right away, 11 of the jurors vote for guilty with only Henry Fonda's character holding out. He doesn't necessarily think everyone else is wrong, but he doesn't feel like a boys life sentence should be decided in five minutes. So he slowly starts to question some of the evidence that was submitted in the case. As he continues to debate the "reasonable doubt" of the defendant, other jurors start to question things which leads to a lot of angst and frustration among the jurors. It's here where the movie really takes off and becomes a classic. All the while, we are never told if the kid is guilty or not, we must figure it out along with the rest of the jury. 12 Angry Men is such a simple formula for a movie and it is one that will leave you thinking about things long after. All of the actors have characters who are developed well and have their own personalities which come out in the jury room. This movie is simply a masterpiece.