12 Angry Men (1957)

This film will never stop being timely
Here, we have a young man, with a rough childhood, growing up in a rough neighborhood accused of brutally stabbing his father. His father spent time in prison for forgery and was abusive to his son.
But the jury initially votes for him to go to the chair, save one: Juror Number Eight (Henry Fonda), who feels that the stakes are too high to not have a discussion about the events at hand. This young man's life is also at stake, if found guilty, he will get the electric chair. The film unfolds as slowly and gradually the evidence is picked away until reasonable doubt is established. First, the supposed one-of-a-kind knife is found to be not so unique, then the older man who lived below the murdered is found to have a disability (from a stroke) that wouldn't have allowed him to get to the door as fast as he said it did. Then juror number four (E.G. Marshall) finds himself unable to remember the films he saw with his wife just days before, confirming that the accused could actually have been at the movies when his father was killed. The angle at which he supposedly stabbed his father is also found to most likely be inaccurate and then finally the most important testimony of the witness across the street may not have seen what she thought she saw as she wasn't wearing her glasses or may not have been wearing her glasses when she witnessed the murder.
The men are all different. We have the sadist who literally kills people for a living (Lee J. Cobb) who has a troubled relationship with his own son and sees his son in the accused, the foreman (Martin Balsam) is rather timid and not a natural born leader though he needs to be, the man who lived in the slums and understands street talk (Jack Klugman), the immigrant who is thrilled with the process (George Voskovec) and the bully (Ed Begley), whom eventually the men just stop listening to.
Despite being simple, taking place largely in one room, in real time, the plot has to be interesting, which it is and the acting is phenomenal. Though Fonda gets the star billing, it is really an ensemble cast and they deliver. There are some gaps when not much happens, which slows the film down, but it brings up many good points. And leaves you wondering, who really murdered the father? Certainly the son could have done it, but there is enough doubt to find him not guilty.
Now, while the film is certainly important and necessary and timeless, it is typical Hollywood, with only white men in the cast. So while the film is still relevant in countless ways, it is nevertheless dated, especially with all smoking. Watch it anyway. Grade: A-