This movie could be easily transferred to Theater if you want to watch it a live show. 12 people and one room is enough for a great movie (although there are movie with even less actors that are good as this one). If you feel that the plot is going slow, you probably will go over this when watch it for second and every time after. And you'll notice more and more good details that support this story.The message that is sent is what most of us sense that art serves for - to give you nice feeling of importance of every life, to inspire you.

I encountered "12" by accident, and I'm glad I did. I've been into Russian and Soviet films for a very long time; all a part of being a Russophile! In the winter I wear a Red Army issued ushanka, my wrist watch is a Soviet Air Force Sturmanskie, I often have a KGB hip flask in the inside pocket of my motorcycle jacket, and the bike itself is a Russian Ural! From the little I've learned about the ex-Soviet Union and it's military, I gathered enough to get the shocking FULL IMPACT of the ending's meaning.I won't spoil things here... but after seeing the film, look up the Army's SPETZNAZ units, and learn a little about how they're trained and how they operate.After you know that... YOU'LL get the punch line here too."Uncle" isn't what he seems to be...

"12" is two title-words shorter and a full sixty-three minutes longer than "Twelve Angry Men," the 1957 Sydney Lumet classic on which this turgid Russian drama is based. Despite the obvious language difference, the Nikita Mikhalkov/Alexandr Novotosky/Vladimir Moiseyenko screenplay follows the Reginald Rose original - which began life as a "Studio One" teleplay in 1954 - fairly closely in form and outline. Again, eleven members of a jury stand ready to convict a young man of first-degree murder (in this case, for killing his foster father, an officer in the Russian army, for money) - until, that is, the lone holdout is able to sow enough doubt in the other jurors' minds to eventually get them to vote his way. And while in the original film the suspect faced racism and xenophobia on account of his being Hispanic, the suspect here suffers a similar fate for being Chechnyan.In the central role of the original dissenter, Sergei Makovetsky lacks the easily recognizable charm and charisma of Henry Fonda - and while this may make him a bit more believable as an "everyman" figure, it also makes him a less compelling focal point for a drama that takes far too long to play itself out. The extended length results, primarily, from the inclusion of brief flashbacks to the defendant's past, recounting the lead-up to the crime and the crime itself, as well as from individual speeches that drone on long past the point where any point can still be made. Each of the twelve jurors gets his moment in the spotlight to ham it up and declaim wildly on his theories about the case, his hatred of one ethnic group or another (in addition to anti-Chechnya sentiment, there's a great deal of anti-Semitism floating around the room as well), and the deplorable state of life in Russia - till the point where we no longer care about these people or the decision they're being forced to make. Eventually, we just want to get out of that place as badly as the men who are trapped inside it. And not all the talk about the Russian soul, not all the discussions of national politics or personal spleen-venting on the part of the participants can make us care one iota about the drama that's unfolding.The question one must finally ask when watching "12" is why anyone would want to take a work like "Twelve Angry Men," celebrated for its brevity and dramatic precision, and turn it into a lumbering, ponderous, elephantine bore - replete with endless speechifying and scenery-chewing performances. Why indeed!

A movie which is worth of seeing at least because of the ending- 12. Unfortunately the beginning is not as genial. Paradoxically it is the only thing I upbraid with. It seems like the whole jury would be totally stupid and the first vote is being lengthening with no purpose. As the time goes, this feeling will disappear and we will hear everybody’s opinion about the crime which the boy/ accused did/ did not. The film is engaging, because the decisions of the jury are not always the same, but they are changing from one side to another. I must say that the opinions of the jury are made on the basis of each personal story. The actor- performances are natural, there is no simulation there. I also must write that some shots are very original, for example the burying piano. I personally unfortunately did not understand the symbol of the sparrow. I have not seen the previous version, but I think 12 is a great movie…