Movie Review: 12 Angry Men

This is probably the best play I've ever seen. And I call it a play rather than a movie, because it really takes place in one room. It was nominated, but did not win an Oscar in 1957.

12 jurors, who happen to be men, decide the fate of an accused murderer. Eleven men think he's guilty and one just wants to talk about it. He proves on a couple of points that there is some reasonable doubt in some of the evidence. Some of the jurors are irrational, and it takes more than logic to get them to sway. One is a bigot, one is angry about something else in his life, and one just wants to get to a baseball game.

The casting was perfect and the play is very engaging intellectually. It teaches me to never make any assumptions about things, especially a legal trial. I heartily recommend it, but I also think that The Bridge On The River Kwai rightfully won the Oscar that year.