Official Synopsis:
Henry Fonda, Lee J. Cobb, Ed Begley and Jack Klugman lead the distinctive cast of jurors whose character portrayals are "perfect in every detail" (The Hollywood Reporter). With its star powered cast and three 1957 Oscar nominations including Best Picture, 12 Angry Men is a powerful, suspenseful and "fascinatingly entertaining film" (Los Angeles Examiner) Eleven jurors are convinced that the defendant is guilty of murder. The twelfth has no doubt of his innocence. How can this one man steer the others toward the same conclusion? It's a case of seemingly overwhelming evidence against a teenager accused of killing his father in "one of the best pictures ever made" (The Hollywood Reporter)  

Our Take:
It is hard to believe that 12 Angry Men, released in 1957, was the first film of still active director Sidney Lumet (Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead).  Lumet, a nine-year veteran of television shows, exudes a rare confidence in this, his first film.  The main action of the film takes place in a single room filled with twelve men, and the fact that the viewer never gets bored can be attributed to Lumet’s excellent direction.  Lumet cuts with such effectiveness that we never feel claustrophobic and remain focused on this small microcosm of society.  Lumet has directed films about the legal system from both sides of counsel, but he started with the jury, the people who decide the outcome.  12 Angry Men runs the gamut of society from the left wing liberal-minded to the bigoted and everywhere in between. 

Henry Fonda, who would garner most of his acclaim as a villain (How the West Was Won), stars here as the lone honest man.  The man with a reasonable doubt as to the guilt of the accused that is unwilling to be swayed by the majority.  Fonda’s character is cut from the same cloth as Atticus Finch (To Kill a Mockingbird) who arrived on screen five years earlier.  While Peck’s Finch was a defense attorney, Fonda essentially takes on the same role within the jury room.  Fonda playing stand-in defense attorney in the jury room makes a larger statement than having the same issues fleshed out in the courtroom.  By leaving it up to a juror to help exonerate the young defendant, 12 Angry Men makes the larger and more important statement about how often it unfortunately happens that innocent people get steamrolled by the judicial system.  Once one takes a step back from the personal conflicts within the jury room (as interesting and telling as they are) and sees the film as a greater indictment of the system as a whole, 12 Angry Men is elevated to a true masterpiece.

12 Angry Men: Collector’s Edition is a substantial upgrade over the previous releases thanks to the following bonus content:

* Audio Commentary with Film Historian Drew Casper. (As he is still very much active, I would have preferred to see a director’s commentary track with Lumet).

* Beyond a Reasonable Doubt: Making 12 Angry Men (23 minutes).

* Inside the Jury Room (16 minutes).

12 Angry Men is the first film of Sidney Lumet’s long, erratic, but illustrious career and stands the test of time as one of the finest courtroom dramas ever filmed for the big screen or television.  A direct pre-cursor to the Dick Wolf-produced court procedurals of present day, 12 Angry Men is the grandfather of them all, and that bests them in every way.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

Overall Picture:
Movie: A
DVD:   B

- Matthew Orlando
Staff Writer