Review: 12 (2009)

[Steve Rhodes]

12
A film review by Steve Rhodes
Copyright 2009 Steve Rhodes

RATING (0 TO ****):  ***

Okay, I've got to be honest.  One of my absolute favorite genres of films 
are ones about juries.  And, while I like most trial films, it is those 
focusing exclusively on the jury deliberations that I like best of all.

There aren't many pure jury movies.  The one that is the most famous and 
that is one of my all time favorite films is 12 ANGRY MEN.  I've seen three 
versions of this story, and I love them all, with, not surprisingly, the 
1957 film version starring Henry Fonda, Lee J. Cobb, E. G. Marshall and 
others being the one I love the most.

12, while acknowledging Reginald Rose's screenplay, is a loose adaptation, 
with only the basic outline of the plot being followed.  Set in Russia, this 
script, by Nikita Mikhalkov, Vladimir Moiseyenko and Aleksandr Novototsky, 
uses the trial to explore the intense hatred and disdain that the Russians 
have for the Chechnyans.

The trial, which appears to be a slam-dunk for the prosecution, concerns a 
Chechen teenager charged with murdering his Russian stepfather.  With two 
eyewitnesses and a unique knife used as the murder weapon, the jury appears 
to have a case before them that can be decided quickly.  And, since many of 
the jurors have pressing engagements and trains to catch, it's good that 
they should be able to dispose of the case easily and efficiently.

As you can guess, this rush to judgment grinds to a halt when one of the 
jurors shocks the others by voting "not guilty."  It's not so much that this 
juror believes that the accused is innocent.  It's just that the juror wants 
the jury to postpone final judgment until it considers the facts a bit 
first.

The movie is a long march from the 11-1 vote in favor of conviction to the 
inevitable freeing of the defendant.  12 ANGRY MEN is crisp and riveting in 
every interchange, but director Nikita Mikhalkov's 12 is filled with long, 
rambling stories by the jurors about incidents from their lives.  When the 
jurors stick to discussing the case, the film works best.

The director's BURNT BY THE SUN won the 1995 Academy Award for Best Foreign 
Language Film, and 12 was a nominee at last year's Oscars.  While this 
overlong film is well worth seeing, one juror best captured my main 
criticism of the film.  "I beg your pardon," he tells another juror after 
yet another long story about someone's life.  "Why did you tell us all of 
that?"

Perhaps the most interesting part of 12 is the ending twist that comes from 
the reasoning behind the last juror's brief hold out in voting for 
innocence.  He comes up with a reason to continue to vote guilty that the 
others had not ever considered.

12 runs 2:29.  The film is in Russian and Chechen with English subtitles. 
It is rated PG-13 for "violent images, disturbing content, thematic 
material, brief sexual and drug references, and smoking" and would be 
acceptable for teenagers.

The film opens nationwide in the United States on Friday, March 13, 2009. 
In the Silicon Valley, it will be showing at the Camera Cinemas.

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