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12 Angry Men

1957

Sidney Lumet

Henry Fonda, Lee J. Cobb, Jack Warden, E.G. Marshall ...

8.7

71,614

Drama. Mystery 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?

	Author	Review
United States	A.H. Weiler The New York Times	"Excellent film (...) a penetrating, sensitive and sometimes shocking dissection of the hearts and minds of men (...) It makes for taut, absorbing and compelling drama that reaches far beyond the close confines of its jury room setting".	POS
United States	Joshua Rothkopf Time Out	"Too few films take on the art of arguing as a subject; we could certainly use more of them, but until then, Lumet's window into strained civic duty will continue to serve mightily (...) Rating: ★★★★★ (out of 5)"	POS
United States	Variety	"The film leaves a tremendous impact"	POS
United States	Roger Ebert rogerebert.com	"It is a masterpiece of stylized realism -- the style coming in the way the photography and editing comment on the bare bones of the content (…) Rating: ★★★★ (out of 4)"	POS
United Kingdom	Geoff Andrew Time Out	"The treatment is tense, lucid, and admirably economical (...) What really transforms the piece from a rather talky demonstration that a man is innocent until proven guilty, is the consistently taut, sweltering atmosphere"	POS
United States	Jonathan Rosenbaum Chicago Reader	"The film is pretty much saved, or nearly, by Lumet's tight direction and the capable performances (...) Mechanically written, but within its own middlebrow limitations, it delivers the goods."	NEU
United Kingdom	William Thomas Empire	"Startlingly moving and powerful for a one-room, wordy drama... (…) Rating: ★★★★★ (out of 5)"	POS
United States	Glenn Heath Jr. Slant	"Aesthetically, '12 Angry Men' is a master class in refurbished cinematic space (…) Rating: ★★★★ (out of 4)"	POS
United Kingdom	Marc Lee Telegraph	"The genius of Sidney Lumet's astonishingly powerful '12 Angry Men' is that (...) he takes an already small, claustrophobic space - a jury room - and makes it even more confined."	POS
United States	James Berardinelli ReelViews	"It has aged well. The issues addressed are as relevant today as they were in 1957 (…) Rating: ★★★½ (out of 4)"	POS
United States	Noel Murray AV Club	"Rose's script builds in surprises, heated speeches, and artificial pauses for the sake of varying up the rhythm. Some of the bits of business (...) are well-observed examples of honest human behavior."	POS

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