12 Angry Men is a 1997 television film directed by William Friedkin, adapted from the Reginald Rose teleplay of the same title. After the final closing arguments have been presented to the judge, she gives her instructions to the jury. In the United States , the verdict in criminal cases must normally be unanimous. A non-unanimous verdict results in a hung jury which in turn forces a mistrial. The question they are deciding is whether the defendant, a teenage boy from a city slum, murdered his father. The jury is further instructed that a guilty verdict will be accompanied by a mandatory... death sentence . The jury of twelve retires to the jury room where they begin to become acquainted with each other's personalities and discuss the case. The plot of the film revolves around their difficulty in reaching a unanimous verdict, mainly due to several of the jurors' personal prejudices.
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| Release date: | August 17, 1997 |
| Directed by: | William Friedkin |
| Runtime: | 117 Minutes |
| Screenplay by: | Reginald Rose |
| Adapted from: | Twelve Angry Men |