Dog Day Afternoon (1975)

"Dog Day Afternoon" is one of my all time favourite movies. It's one of the most well executed films that I've ever seen. Everything from its direction, writing and especially its acting are just perfect. Not only is it one of the most exciting thrillers that I've ever seen, it also raises themes of feeling hopeless, confused and afraid, what desperation can force people to do and feeling like everything is just too much too handle. Most thrillers don't usually bring up such meaningful concepts, which is something that I think makes this film so special. It manages to excite its audience as well as give them an accurate depiction of problems faced by people every day. "Dog Day Afternoon" tells the true story of Sonny and Sal. They're two citizens of Brooklyn, New York that are down on their luck and decide to rob a bank. The robbery starts to go wrong as soon as they get in through the bank's door and before they know it they're surrounded by cops and the local television news is making them celebrities for all of the wrong reasons. Despite all odds being against them Sonny and Sal have one thing up their sleeves and that's their hostages. Since the police can't do anything while Sonny and Sal have the hostages they must negotiate, and that's all I can say in terms of this film's story, as I wouldn't want to spoil this absolutely riveting piece of cinema for anyone in the world. I was thrilled throughout "Dog Day Afternoon" and I found the character of Sonny to be particularly interesting. It's a very tense film with many scenes that give you a real insight into its main character. This is the second film that I've seen from director Sidney Lumet after "Serpico" which I did like but I felt that it went on a bit too long and was a bit aimless in some scenes, but my intense enjoyment of "Dog Day Afternoon" really makes me want to revisit "Serpico" as well as explore Lumet's other work that I'm yet to see. There's some very stylish camera work in this film and the way the story unfolds feels very real. This film is very tense and Lumet has done very well at creating a sense of unease and confusion, which helps the audience to understand how Sonny feels in the situation that he's in. Frank Pierson's script is spectacular. The characters are believable and so is their dialogue. One aspect of the film that I enjoyed very much that I didn't expect at all is that it was actually quite funny in some scenes. The humour mostly comes from Sonny and Sal's blatant incompetence as bank robbers. In one scene the bank tellers are so not intimidated by Sonny and Sal that they ask if they could have a bathroom break while they have a gun pointed straight at them. Pierson's script also touches upon some issues which were rather controversial in the 1970s like homophobia, which still feel relevant today even if they were more intense in the 1970s. Although Pierson's script feels very realistic I'm sure a few real life details were changed, which is fine as long as the film keeps the majority of its story true to the real events. I'd say that this film's best quality is Al Pacino's superb performance as Sonny, which for my money is probably the best of his entire career. The thing that makes this stand out from most of Pacino's performances to me is that although Pacino is a great actor I think that he tends to overact sometimes, but in "Dog Day Afternoon" he was completely understated and believable. When I was watching this film I didn't see Al Pacino acting in a film, I saw Sonny Wortzwik. Pacino completely convinced me that he was that character. His portrayal of Sonny having to deal with overwhelming stress and his repression of his feelings felt very natural. John Cazale also gives a very subtle performance as Sal, who is very quiet and seems to be perplexed by life and its challenges to the point where he's given up trying to figure them out. Cazale brings a unique sense of melancholy to the role of Sal and him and Pacino make a great duo as actors. Both Pacino and Cazale successfully make their characters sympathetic despite them being criminals. The only very minor flaw with this film is that it's not quite as good upon a second viewing as you will know what's going to happen in it, but that's a problem that's present in all thrillers. In summary "Dog Day Afternoon" is a terrific exhibition of true talent for filmmaking. It's exciting throughout and it feels very real. It boasts superb writing and direction and some of the best acting ever put to film. For these reasons I have to give "Dog Day Afternoon" an extremely well deserved star rating of 5 out of 5 stars. I would highly recommend this film to people who like exciting thrillers and anyone who respects good filmmaking