More akin to a filmed play than a typical movie, Sidney Lumet's debut feature takes place almost entirely inside one room, with the drama coming primarily from the incredible script, one of the best ever written, and strong performances from the ensemble cast. Nominated at the Academy Awards for Best Picture, Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay, 12 Angry Men failed to win any of them but is still rightly regarded as an all-time classic of American cinema. The seemingly-lightweight narrative sees the titular jurors debating whether a young man (referred to only as 'the boy') is guilty of stabbing his father to death. Only Henry Fonda's Juror 8 stops the jury from immediately coming to a guilty verdict, and as the 12 men re-examine the evidence with heavy emphasis on the term 'reasonable doubt' we are given an insight each man's personality and motivations regarding the case. Despite the majority of the movie taking place inside a single room, Lumet's camerawork is surprisingly versatile, while Reginald Rose's script gradually deepens the characterization while constantly shifting the momentum of the case. For a movie essentially about middle-aged white guys arguing with each other, 12 Angry Men is also loaded with suspense, tension and an underlying social commentary. Many courtroom dramas take place over the entire length of a trial, but very few have even come close to topping one set almost entirely in a single location.
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