Andy’s Movie Review of the Week (5)
12 Angry Men (1957) – *****½/*****
Yes, you read that correctly – it says 5 and a half stars out of five. I had the opportunity to watch this classic film again recently, and after two recent theater experiences that left me foaming at the mouth and seething with rage (well, maybe that’s a little strong) – namely The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus and Avatar – I think this movie deserves the extra credit to make up for a couple of really shitty years of cinema. You know the expression “They just don’t make ‘em like they used to”? People invented that saying as a way of talking about this movie. No really, look it up on Wikipedia – just give me a few more minutes to finish editing the page…
12 Angry Men, in case you didn’t know, follows the deliberation of twelve jurors charged with deciding the fate of a young man on trial for the murder of his father. At first, juror #8 (played by Henry Fonda) is the only member who casts a vote of Not Guilty, standing alone against the other eleven. As the film progresses, the men argue and debate back and forth as to the facts of the case, and Fonda’s side eventually begins to win some converts. By the end, (SPOILERS – just in case there are really some of you who don’t know) all twelve jurors are convinced that a reasonable doubt exists as to the guilt of the defendant, and so they send back a verdict of Not Guilty. That’s it. That’s the movie. Twelve people (well, twelve white males, but this was the 50s) in a room together, talking. For an hour and a half. No explosions or car chases. And it’s fucking fantastic. Think audiences today could sit through something like that? If you do, you might be in the minority – last time I checked, Avatar has made over two BILLION dollars worldwide.
But I’m probably being cynical. People have a wide range of interests, and while Avatar almost made me retch with its cardboard characters and stupid, fucking, clichéd script, I like plenty of movies of the same ilk. Yes, The Dark Knight is #10 on IMDB’s “Top 250 movies of All Time” list, but hey – 12 Angry Men is #7, three spots ahead! Lots of people love this movie, and rightly so! It’s also worth noting that the film has received a solid 100% on rottentomatoes.com, meaning every professional review they could find was positive.
This movie was filmed in an unprecedented 21 days, and only features 16 total actors: the 12 jurors, a judge, security guard, court clerk, and defendant (the last four of whom only appear for a total of something like 3 minutes on film). Ninety-five percent of the movie takes place in one room, on one set – with twelve guys in suits sitting, standing, walking, talking, and yelling. Nevertheless, the film had a budget of $350,000 – and that’s in 1950s money! Quickly adjusting for inflation, that’s approximately eleven zillion dollars in current figures, give or take a few decimal places. Hell, I think I could film a 90 minute movie consisting of twelve actors in one room for about 30 bucks, assuming I only hired close friends or hobos and paid them in cheese sandwiches. Where did the eleven zillion dollars go? It probably went to pay the salaries of all the fucking amazing actors who made a piece of art like this possible. The movie is packed with big name stars of the era, at least some of whom somebody under 80 might recognize today. But identify them or not, we can all agree that they do a fantastic job, and I’m sure my $30 remake will be lacking in a certain celluloid chemistry. These guys are badasses.
Henry Fonda will fucking cut you
This movie has been remade several times, in film or for television, but the original film came out in 1957, and is in glorious black & white. Come to think of it, 1957 was a badass year for movies in general – here’s just a teensy tiny list of some of the awesome films that came out that year: 12 Angry Men, Paths of Glory, Sweet Smell of Success, The Bridge on the River Kwai, The Seventh Seal, and, uh… Jailhouse Rock, with Elvis. One of these things may not be like the others, but the fact remains that the film industry of today pales in comparison to the Hollywood of yesteryear in many respects.
If 12 Angry Men came out today, it would probably be called 12 Raging Robots, be directed by Michael Bay, and feature 987 discrete scenes of computer generated explosions and car flips. It just goes to show that truly great, timeless movies don’t require an overload of computer generated effects to be successful, just great actors and a solid script – so suck it, Avatar.
Neytiri: Jakesully, why are you so angry? Jake: Because no matter how much money this movie makes, we'll never be 1/10 as cool as a bunch of dead guys in suits.