80
There is an unnerving and hopefully implausible twist at the end, but for the most part, Mikhalkov's 12 is magnetic.
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What are people saying?
What are critics saying?
85
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."
88
The time passes quickly. This is the rare remake that does honor to the spirit of the original.
50
San Francisco Chronicle by Mick LaSalle
No matter how bad things get, you can always be thankful for this: You're not on trial for murder in Russia.
67
Rarely has the voyeuristic appeal of sitting on a jury been so cleverly expressed.
50
Entertainment Weekly by Owen Gleiberman
Has none of the crisp passion or suspense of the 1957 Sidney Lumet version; it's bloated, heavy-handed, and lugubrious.
80
Expansively, dramatically, magnificently Russian, Nikita Mikhalkov's loose remake of "12 Angry Men" plays like vintage jazz from a veteran band.
80
The New York Times by Stephen Holden
With its thunderous drama and larger-than-life characters, which lend it a brawling energy, 12 is never dull.
50
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.