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12
EMAILPRINTSony Pictures Classics
Generally favorable reviews
Based on 17 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 8 votes
Read user comments
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Movie Info
Genre(s): Crime | Drama | Suspense/Thriller | War
Written by: Nikita Mikhalkov
Directed by: Nikita Mikhalkov
Release Date:
Theatrical: March 4, 2009
Running Time: 159 minutes, Color
Origin: Russia
Summary
RATING: PG-13 for violent images, disturbing content, thematic material, brief sexual and drug references, and smoking
Starring Mikita Mikhalkov, Sergey Makovetsky, Sergey Garmash, Alexy Petrenko, Valentin Graft, Yury Stoyanov, Mikhail Efremov, and Sergey Gazaro
A loose remake of “12 Angry Men”, 12 is set in contemporary Moscow where 12 very different men must unanimously decide the fate of a young Chechen accused of murdering his step-father, a Russian army officer. Consigned to a makeshift jury room in a school gymnasium, one by one each man takes center stage to confront, connect, and confess while the accused awaits a verdict and revisits his heartbreaking journey through war in flashbacks. (Sony Picture Classics)
Also On The Web: Internet Movie Database
What The Critics Said
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
Village Voice Michelle Orange
Miklahkov keeps 12 tops spinning at all times in the school gymnasium that serves as their deliberation room, and though the speech/conversion pattern grows a little pat, the movement toward consensus raises the further, richly complicated question of how to decide not only what is right, but what is best.
Read Full Review >Austin Chronicle Marc Savlov
12 is every bit as much of a moral powerhouse as its predecessors but with the added bonus of being simultaneously intellectually riveting and, at times, almost indescribably poetic.
Read Full Review >Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert
Mikhalkov has made a new film with its own original characters and stories, and after all, it's not how the film ends, but how it gets there.
Read Full Review >New York Post Lou Lumenick
The time passes quickly. This is the rare remake that does honor to the spirit of the original.
Read Full Review >NPR Bob Mondello
The title is shorter, but that's the only thing remotely diminished about 12, Nikita Mikhalkov's exuberantly Russian reworking of Reginald Rose's 1950s jury-room play, "12 Angry Men."
Read Full Review >Los Angeles Times Betsy Sharkey
There is an unnerving and hopefully implausible twist at the end, but for the most part, Mikhalkov's 12 is magnetic.
Read Full Review >Variety Ronnie Scheib
Expansively, dramatically, magnificently Russian, Nikita Mikhalkov's loose remake of "12 Angry Men" plays like vintage jazz from a veteran band.
Read Full Review >The New York Times Stephen Holden
With its thunderous drama and larger-than-life characters, which lend it a brawling energy, 12 is never dull.
Read Full Review >Chicago Reader Andrea Gronvall
The tradition of Russian stage acting enriches this satisfying update of Reginald Rose's TV play "Twelve Angry Men."
Read Full Review >Portland Oregonian Shawn Levy
Mikhalkov plays the jury foreman, allowing himself a bit of business that eventually erases itself, amounting, effectively, to nothing. Alas, too much of this splashy film is just like that.
Read Full Review >The Onion (A.V. Club) Noel Murray
Rarely has the voyeuristic appeal of sitting on a jury been so cleverly expressed.
Read Full Review >Christian Science Monitor Peter Rainer
I haven't heard this much shouting in a movie since the first hour of "Full Metal Jacket."
Read Full Review >The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Rick Groen
Yes, Mikhalkov has set himself quite the agenda, but in the end the film is too much of a piece with its topic, intensely fascinating yet seriously flawed. The verdict? Guilty, with extenuating circumstances.
Read Full Review >Entertainment Weekly Owen Gleiberman
Has none of the crisp passion or suspense of the 1957 Sidney Lumet version; it's bloated, heavy-handed, and lugubrious.
Read Full Review >Boston Globe Ty Burr
The new film's not only almost double the length of the original, it's four times as ambitious - a sprawling, surrealist, ultimately disturbing portrait of a society lurching uncertainly toward democracy. What's really on trial in this movie? Just the Russian soul.
Read Full Review >San Francisco Chronicle Mick LaSalle
No matter how bad things get, you can always be thankful for this: You're not on trial for murder in Russia.
Read Full Review >What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this movie is 6.2 (out of 10) based on 8 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
Carole G. gave it a9:
This is an outstanding film! It not only updates "Twelve Angry Men" but immerses us in the Russian struggle with Chechnya. Every member of the cast is superb--what an ensemble! Except for the slow and slightly annoying beginning, when the jury doesn't seem to take its responsibility at all seriously (unlike my experiences as an American jury member), the film is totally gripping. One is reminded of the Russian talent for Drama, here used wonderfully to the max. It makes me sad that more people are not eager to see this film, which manages to fully evoke the humanity of its least likable characters. Knowing the ending of the original does nothing to reduce the immense pleasure of how these 12 jury members come to their conclusion.
Dan L gave it an8:
Captures the essence of the original, but adds a distinctly Russian flavor. Always interesting, and always compelling, the film manages to have everything come together in the end and work as a coherent and compelling whole. Still, there is something missing, and this, while a great production, will never carry the same weight as the original See it. Enjoy it. Don't expect it to eclipse the original, and don't let its differences and shortcomings bother you. If you can't do anythings, then you'd be be spending your money on a ticket for something else.
Benjamin M gave it a2:
Tries to do everything & ends up doing nothing.
A L gave it a3:
Actors are great, that's the only thing worth look at. Other: plot, directing, dialoges - awful.
Dimitar R. gave it a10:
A masterpiece. Yet one more by Nikita Mihalkov!!!
