“Well, it’s not easy to stand alone against the ridicule of others, so he gambled for support… and I gave it to him.” – Juror #9
Well, it’s certainly not the first and definitely not the last but, this is another movie I’d never heard of or seen before. I have heard of the lead actor, Henry Fonda, though! He was in this little film called “The Grapes of Wrath” — another movie ranked on this list – as well as the father of famous actors Jane and Peter Fonda. When I asked my husband what the knew about this film, he said that it was great. Such a different review than the one he gave me for The French Connection. I did watch a film trailer so I can try and get a scope on why these dudes were angry, but after watching the aforementioned trailer, I still didn’t know a single thing. Well, I thought I knew, but once I actually started watching the movie, I realized I actually didn’t.
Basic Premise of the Film: A 12-man jury begins deliberation on a murder trial. Discussions and arguments ensue on trying to reach a unanimous verdict. Based on a play of the same name.
Honestly, I didn’t know what to expect. When I first saw the title of the movie on the list I was expecting a western for some reason. I guess a film from the 1950s about 12 angry dudes equals “western” to me. Obviously, after I saw the trailer beforehand, I saw that it wasn’t a western in any way whatsoever. Come to find out it’s a legal thriller! Well, it’s not exactly a thriller but the way they go about reaching a solution to the problem at hand is a little bit thrill-ish. I think knowing that it’s a play now makes the single-room set of the film not seem so bad. In fact, the depth they were able to get out of those four walls was amazing — they were able to make that small room seem much bigger than it actually was. You realized that these guys were in this rooms for hours, sweating up a storm, but the passage of time (and the pacing!) made you feel that this all transpired in like an hour and half – which just so happens to be the actual running time of the film. HA!
Now, let’s talk about Henry Fonda. That man was such a great actor. The way he was able to convey his emotions and confusion and keep it together without losing his damn mind like some of the others — solid work. The guy kept his cool when the others were calling him a foo. I mean, I saw his skills when I saw “Grapes of Wrath” but here, they were solid AF. No nod for Best Actor this time around though. There was also some familiar faces in there for me. We have a very young Jack Warden — who will always be Saul in “While You Were Sleeping” to me — and Ed Begley, father of — you guessed it: Ed Begley, Jr. The rest of the cast was a pleasure to be introduced to; maybe I’ll see them again somewhere further up the list…?
Lastly, the film’s legacy. This film has so many things going for it that has helped it remain one of the most popular and greatest films of all times. As mentioned earlier, Henry Fonda as Juror #8 is honestly, an unsung hero. He was the only one who thought differently from the group, stuck to his guns and got everyone to see the light. The suspense is great! You would think that with such a simple plot it wouldn’t be, but once these people start flipping to the other side one after another, you totally get it. While it didn’t win as many awards as you would expect for a film on this list, the nominations is did get are usually reserved for the best films in the nominated year. Oscar-wise, it was nominated for Best Picture, Film and Adapted Screenplay (or “Best Writing of Adapted Screenplay” as it was called back then). Honestly, is it a great film? Yes. Does it deserve to be on this list? Sure. Will it survive the next list update? We’ll see. When the list first debuted in 1998, the film wasn’t even ranked. Maybe it was an honorable mention? I don’t know but it was for sure nominated. I guess it wasn’t good enough to make the cut in 1998 but for the 2007 update I guess it got enough of the votes needed to be ranked. For it’s first time, it has a rather nice debut for cracking the top 90, we’ll see how well it fares for the next update — whenever that is.
I veiwed this film on a hosted site. CLICK HERE to watch. Not currently available for rent on YouTube but the full movie is available for viewing here, here and here.
And now, just for fun…
There exist what can either be called a remake or a new adaptation (a la True Grit style) of the film/play from the 90’s. I’m sorry but were they thinking this was going to be a better film? Was Jack Lemmon supposed to be better than Henry Fonda. Nothing but love to the late and great Jack Lemmon but, based on the trailer alone, he’s not better. Here’s the trailer for this newer version. Have any of you seen it?
Buy the VHS guys!
secret life of an almost "Grown-Up" 