12 Angry Men
by William Friedkin
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VHS Tape Cover Information
Actor: Armin Mueller-Stahl, Courtney B. Vance, Dorian Harewood, George C. Scott, Ossie DavisDirector: William Friedkin
Edition: VHS Tape
Audio: English (Original Language), Analog
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, NTSC, Original recording reissued
Running Time: 117 minutes
Release Date: 2000-11-07
Audience Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Publisher: MGM (Video & DVD)
Studio: MGM (Video & DVD)
VHS Movie Reviews of 12 Angry Men
Movie Review: 12 Moody Guys
Summary: 3 Stars
Watching this 1997 version of 12 ANGRY MEN recently, I was struck by the fact that four of the 12 actors in key roles here have since passed away. That has absolutely nothing to do with the film's quality, of course (or nothing directly to do with it), but it is striking that key members of this impressive cast--and of course, I'm referring to Jack Lemmon, George C. Scott, Hume Cronyn and Ossie Davis-- have gone on to that jury box in the sky.
As I say, the fact that these great actors have all died within the past decade is not a direct reflection on the film itself. But it does raise at least one issue that a previous reviewer has noted: namely, the question of the cast's relative age in comparison to the cast of the 1957 classic movie version. Jack Lemmon was 72 when he played Juror #8 in this version. In the original film version, Henry Fonda was a comparatively youthful 52 when he portrayed the same character in 1957. Lee J. Cobb was all of 47 when he took on the part of Juror #3. George C. Scott was pushing 70 when he assayed the role.
In Scott's case, the role of the pained father--alienated from his own son and transferring some of his rage onto the accused--rings a bit false. He's fine until his climactic moment when he makes this association painfully clear (to all three viewers who hadn't already guessed), but at that very point, his performance unravels. Yes, there are 70 year old men estranged from their 30-something children, but one might expect the rage to be somewhat more muted by that point. Scott's wounds seem almost too fresh in this production.
Lemmon's relative maturity is not without its own problems. He is almost too sage. One is never quite sure whether he is really a tentative, but tenacious truth seeker, stubbornly hashing his way through the case's many inconsistencies, or whether he's actually a fine legal mind with a grand strategy that slowly and masterfully unfolds.
The obvious attempts to update the film's action are more annoying than enlightening. It's significant that this time out, the jury is racially mixed (and ethnically too, since two of the jurors are at least vaguely European). And depending on your point of view, it may be a sign of progress overall that African-American characters can be as perceptive or as flawed as any of their cohorts. (One even turns out to be bigoted in the extreme against the Hispanic accused.) But by 1997 could you really get away with having a jury without a single woman on it? No, it wouldn't be the same if the film were called 10 ANGRY MEN AND A COUPLE OF WOMEN WHO AIN'T TOO HAPPY EITHER. On the other hand, all the little updates thrown into the mix (including the presence of a female judge) do nothing to alter the fact that the movie is fundamentally anachronistic from the get-go.
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