12 Angry Men (1957)

 I would joke about this movie, but there is such a deep meaning behind it...

12 Angry Men is a movie about 12 jurors making a decision whether a young man is guilty or not guilty in the case of killing his own father. Despite most of the names never being said out loud, each juror is a personality important to the case.

What will the verdict be, and who are these men?

12 Angry Men (1957)

When I found out about this movie, and saw all those funny comments, I thought - nice, a way to kill an evening and have a good laugh.

Boy, oh boy, was the movie an eye opener.

The premise in theory is about 12 heterosexual middle aged men yelling at each other. But to be quite honest, most of the yelling was done by  Lee J. Cobb. Cobb had one of the most important characters for me, his revealed secret really made you look at his character differently. I am not saying he is forgiven, I am just saying that it's a deep psychology.

As for the other characters, John Fiedler was so funny to me - with his voice and his innocence, E. G. Marshall's character was frustratingly good, Jak Warden was so annoying with his game, Joseph Sweeney reminded me of my grandpa a lot, Ed Begley did a great job at being a "villain", George Voskovec is my absolute sweetheart, Robert Webber was so hard to look at with his weird glasses, and even the actors not named did a great job and tied the 12 men together into a... little masterpiece. 

12 angry men? More like Lee J. Cobb yelling at everyone 😂

Let us mention Reginald Rose (story & screenplay) and Carl Lerner (film editor) who I think done an amazing job giving us all those characters.

Now, for a dive-in and screenshots.

This is where I was still making fun of the movie. As a "victim" of today's era, I love to joke about the sheer existence of middle aged white men. So this movie seemed like a good opportunity to have a laugh at something with no real meaning.

I need to repeat that, to really stick with me, how much this movie showed me wrong. My prejudice was really tested.

This movie was so incredibly deep, the characters so well written and the conclusion shut me up so hard I almost lost my teeth.

But then again, I do not know a single man who would just stand up like that, no teasing a no mean looks.

Joseph Sweeney had some of the smartest lines. Of course, they [the men] used it against him to ridicule me, but like I mentioned, he reminded me of my grandpa a lot.

He had a whole speech about how inferior an old man with no family or no close people can feel, how difficult it is to be unheard, unseen, unnoticed.

His words were really meaningful and while I think respect is not a privilege you earn with age, we should give everyone the benefit and only take the respect if they do not earn it.

This especially meant a lot. While doubting the old man, Sweeney stepped in, saying one word that shook my whole world.

Attention.

The only thing old people don't have. Grandparent staying alone, old people not having friends, no one to listen, no one to spend time with, no one who would lend them their ear.

You might think I am just crying here over nothing, but I lost my grandparents and I would give everything to just listen to them talk and talk and talk.

When I used to go to church, I met many old people who made me into their "granddaughter". They talked to me about their troubles, praised me for my achievements, always made sure to give me something small as a way of spoiling me.

Despite having my own family, they seemed lonely. With no husband and no kids, when nobody came to visit, they were grateful for someone who spoke to them and seemed to be interested.

It might seem weird to people who never experienced that. But it's a different feeling of loneliness when you see how happy someone is when you walk them home, take their groceries, drive them somewhere or accept an invite for lunch.

How incredibly prepared they are when you ask them to do an interview with them for school. And while you are bored, they are ready to tell you everything, slip in some advice and kind of make sure you are happy and loved.

They just want someone to notice them. They are afraid of being alone.

And this lines about the old man coming out of another old man... I don't know. I just took it to heart.

Coming back from depressing talk, George Voskovec coming out to correcting Begley's English was the funniest thing ever. When I heard "he don't" I was praying that someone worked with the joke.

AND IT WAS THE JOKE.

Besides, not only that, but Mr. Voskovec (who is Cezch btw!!) gave this cunty smile that sold me on loving him with my whole heart. 💞

And then something incredible happened. My boy corrected his grammar and THEN TURNED OUT TO HAVE AN ACCENT. I did not know he was Czech, or foreigner at all. It hit me in the face and made me wheeze.

The white men comedy continues.

This is where stuff started getting serious, almost sad. The mood shifted and as 11 guilty - 1 not guilty started shifting, changing with every vote... the atmosphere got heavy.

And then this happened:

[Oh my god I am so dumb! They told him to don't open his mouth again
 and he DIDN'T FOR THE REST OF THE MOVIE]

While Begley's racist character had this whole speech about how they're all the same, the other men started leaving table, looking away.

They payed him no attention and made him weak.

I think it was brilliant. People criticize it, because they think ignoring bigots is not enough. But by taking attention from them, you will take power from them.

Seeing them all show protest this way... And then we saw his character sit down on a chair away from the table, shaking head "not guilty" with that look on his face... Ugh! Such a great movie! Goosebumps!

After this, the decision turned to 11 not guilty - 1 guilty. But when Cobb's characters was given the space to explain why he thought the boy was guilty... The speech was great. Having him yell, throw the wallet (I assume) on the table and reveal his motive... I just have no words to describe how happy the ending made me feel. How incredibly this movie was and what a great message it sent.

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Talk about unexpected. Talk about Hidden Gem. Talk about good cinema.

I do never ever want to see another version of this movie (maybe only the Czechoslovak one), because this will forever be the only version I ever saw. It does not need another chance. It accomplished everything.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐