This is a film that exemplifies the misinterpretation of information even in the presence of every day people. In the beginning we have pure chaos in which a unanimous verdict cannot be reached in the murder case presented to them in the opening scenes. To me, this sets the ground for a scenario in which a manager would tighten his belt and do his job. To fix things.
One particular scene with the ballot sequence strikes a serious point. While everybody finds the man guilty, the one Juror 8 believes otherwise. This is where the story picks up, and any business venturer would definitely pick up on the subtle nuances. The entire room wants to find the man guilty of murder simply because they claim they have places to be - even though they are deprived of all the information that would wither save the defendant or condemn him. This wholely reminds me of when the CEO of Dell began working out of his garage while everybody put him down for being "obtuse". We all know how that turned out don't we? He went AGAINST the public consensus and became synonymous with the word "successful".
Lemmon is one of my favorite actors, and I genuinely wish he was my grandpa. His showcase as Juror 8 makes you the viewer believe "Hey, maybe he's got a point?"
Jack portrays a stricty amount of LEADERSHIP in his role by completely swaying the jury's decision to send the man to his death. This is something a company manager and CEO should convey to his/her employees - because if one was to simply confide in the group concensus, then the right thing would slip through their fingers... and in this case an innocent man would die. Also, this movie shows different communication tactics simply from the fact that Lemmon physically acts out the scenario of which the defendant experienced, all the while he's constantly heckled by the "bitter father" figure (another character you do NOT want in your workspace). Because of 8's (Jack's) power over influence, he has created a sense of satisfaction for we the audience by playing the leader in the story, and frankly I wouldn't mind if he was my Grandpa! Long story short, 8's persuasion was completely successful - he swayed the jury's decision, and an innocent man walked free and escaped being wrongfully sentenced.
12 Angry Men has been disputed as BORING in the past, and I can honestly see where it comes from. If you look at it on paper, you're watching 12 people argue with each other for 2 hours. But any fan of pure dialogue and character development will like this. It's a 0/10 for people that are looking for a suspenseful flick, but it's a 8/10 in my book.
-mark johnston
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