"Beyond a Reasonable Doubt"
This film is a great example of how much drama can exist in such a claustrophobic setting. Except for a few shots at the very beginning, and at the very end, the entire film takes place in that very small jury room. As well, the story appears to develop in real time, or, at the very least, within a very small span of time. Nevertheless, the film manages to retain much interest due to its crucial storyline. It also helps that all of the actors are good to watch. Henry Fonda is the big Hollywood star, but all of the other actors are fine characters actors immersed in gritty realism. Familiar faces include Lee J. Cobb, Jack Klugman (Quincy), Jack Warden, and E. G Marshall, amongst others.
The makers of 12 Angry Men are clearly of a liberal standpoint. Certain pieces of dialogue suggest that this is as much a (subtle) stance against capital punishment as it is a treatise on fair justice. At the same time, however, the whole point of the movie is that, in such a situation as this, where a person will be sent to death if found guilty, the standards of guilt must be even tougher. The jurors must always be aware of the idea of "beyond a reasonable doubt", and the viewer becomes aware of that as well.
There will probably be a number of people viewing this film who many, nevertheless, object to the attitude of this film. They may start thinking much like Lee J. Cobb's character, a blowhard who essentially says to forget about all of the evidence, it's so obvious that the kid is guilty. Some people might say that all of this arguing is really just splitting hairs -- okay, so the old guy may be off by a few seconds, so maybe there's two knifes in the city, and so on and so on, but it's not as if the kid was a saint to begin with. And certainly, those aren't invalid points. But at the same time...... if you're going to put a person to death, shouldn't you have an airtight reason for doing so? If there is any doubt in the proceeds, how could you live with yourself, knowing that you put a person to death with flawed evidence? And how could you live with yourself period for putting a person to death? As Fonda suggests of Cobb's character, anyone
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