12
Sony Pictures Classics | Release Date: March 4, 2009 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
72
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 17 Critic Reviews
Positive:
12
Mixed:
5
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
90
Village VoiceMichelle 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
89
Austin ChronicleMarc 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
88
New York PostLou Lumenick
The time passes quickly. This is the rare remake that does honor to the spirit of the original. Read full review
88
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger 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
85
NPRBob 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
80
VarietyRonnie 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
80
The New York TimesStephen Holden
With its thunderous drama and larger-than-life characters, which lend it a brawling energy, 12 is never dull. Read full review
80
Los Angeles TimesBetsy 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
80
Chicago ReaderAndrea Gronvall
The tradition of Russian stage acting enriches this satisfying update of Reginald Rose's TV play "Twelve Angry Men." Read full review
80
Washington PostDan Zak
Mikhalkov's 12 breathes and floats. Read full review
67
The A.V. ClubNoel Murray
Rarely has the voyeuristic appeal of sitting on a jury been so cleverly expressed. Read full review
67
Portland OregonianShawn 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
58
Christian Science MonitorPeter Rainer
I haven't heard this much shouting in a movie since the first hour of "Full Metal Jacket." Read full review
50
Entertainment WeeklyOwen 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
50
Boston GlobeTy 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
50
San Francisco ChronicleMick 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
50
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
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