Over the next few weeks, we all weigh in on our favorite movies. Dev already gave us his. Here is Matt Schmidt's favorite:

12 Angry Men (1957)

I think there is a place in everyone's heart for My Cousin Vinny, but 12 Angry Men is a true black and white classic that is preserved in the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress. It celebrates our legal system and the idea that a person's fate (especially in the criminal context) is often most fairly decided not by a judge or political body, but by a group of his peers.

Without giving too much away, the story centers around 12 men who must weigh the evidence of a murder trial to decide whether a man is guilty or innocent for the death of his father. This not for those seeking a lot of high flying action and special effects, as over 90% of the movie takes place on one set--the jury room. The movie explores the complex dynamics of a jury, allowing the viewer to act as a fly on the wall and watch them deliberate, something lawyers wish they would be able to do in the real world.

Guilty or innocent, the movie provides realistic examples of what often goes on behind those sacred closed doors, including both the good and the bad.