Synopsis: In this satire of the TV news industry, an aging anchorman on his way out has a very public breakdown, only to find himself more popular than ever.

Sidney Lumet passed away last week. Tragic, certainly, though it’s hard to deny that the man lead a full life — he was 86 when he died, and directed scads of classic films, including (among many others) 12 Angry Men, Serpico, Dog Day Afternoon, and of course, this movie.

This is a film that came out more than thirty years ago, and yet has hardly aged at all: desperate TV execs ready to do anything for a top-rated TV show, the decline of network news, the rise of exploitative reality TV — aside from some of the outdated technology (and a scene in which Robert Duvall wears a tux with a shirt that looks an awful lot like the puffy shirt from Seinfeld), this is a movie that could have come out yesterday.

There are also some eerily close parallels to the current Charlie Sheen fiasco. It’s very hard to see the Peter Finch character — who has a public breakdown and starts spouting off his own off-kilter world view in a very public forum — and not think of Sheen. When Finch (in a really amazing performance) says stuff like “I’m imbued with some special spirit. It’s not a religious feeling. It’s a shocking eruption of great electrical energy,” it’s very hard not to think of Charlie Sheen. All Finch is missing are references to tiger blood and winning.

This is also a surprisingly funny film. I didn’t realize going in, but there are some pretty memorable moments of dark comedy in this movie. I’m thinking, for example, of a great scene in which a group of revolutionary Marxists attempt to renegotiate their contracts with a bevy of lawyers and TV execs.

There’s definitely a lot to like here, including Lumet’s solid direction, the great performances, and a memorable scene with Ned Beatty that’s downright electrifying. Even if the rest of the movie were terrible, I still think it would probably be worth recommending if only for that one scene alone.

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Synopsis: Twelve men enter a jury room to decide the fate of a man accused of murder. Eleven of them think he’s guilty; one thinks it’s not so clear-cut. It’s up to him to convince the others that the evidence isn’t as clear as they think.

I suppose I’m going to be saying this about a lot of the movies that I watch for this blog, but this is a film that I’ve been meaning to see for quite a while. I have a vague memory of being supposed to watch this for a class in high school; for some reason I missed the class and I never ended up seeing it. It’s been on my mental “to watch” list for pretty much as long as I can remember. Whether you’re a hard-core film buff or a casual movie-goer, I think we’ve all got that list of classic films that we’ve been meaning to see but just never got around to (I heard someone refer to this as a “list of shame”). So, here’s one to scratch off that list.

And boy, what a film. Superbly directed by Sidney Lumet (yes, the same Sidney Lumet who just a couple of years ago directed the acclaimed Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead. The man is prolific), this is pretty universally regarded as a classic, and justifiably so. Aside from a couple of brief moments at the beginning and end of the film, we never actually leave the jury room. And yet the film never seems stagey, thanks entirely to Lumet’s assured and breathtakingly cinematic direction. Under a lesser director, the movie may have seemed like a filmed stage play, but Lumet always seems to know exactly where to put the camera in order to accentuate the tension and get the most out of all the great performances.

Those performances… as great as Lumet’s direction is (and it is great), this is definitely a film whose success depends heavily on its actors. All twelve men are equally good, with each creating a distinct and memorable character — an impressive feat, considering there are twelve men and this is only a 96 minute movie. And of course, mention must be made of Reginald Rose’s screenplay. This is just one of those rare cases of every element of a film coming together perfectly, creating a final product guaranteed to become a classic.

So yes, in case you couldn’t tell, I liked this film. Certainly, it deserves its placement on any list of essential films (unlike some movies I can think of…). Good stuff. Up next: Adam’s Rib.

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