Review of Dog Day Afternoon (1975) by Dawdlingpoet — 21 Nov 2021

This is a very tense film, with good dialogue. Your constantly unsure of how things will develop, plot wise and obviously what the ultimate outcome will be for the hostages, as well as the two rather quirky main characters, Sonny and Sal. I found myself feeling empathy towards both the hostages and the hostage takers, which isn't always the case in such films. I found it particularly engrossing due to having read that its based on a true story - the film being based on a magazine article. I found it interesting the relationship between the police and Sonny, as the situation developed. I found myself questioning the actions of the police at times, in as much as there are numerous scenes with Sonny just outside the bank entrance, in clear view of the police and snipers, whereby I'd have thought it would have been pretty quick and easy to shoot him down and knowing its an American film, I was surprised that the authorities weren't more gun-ho. This is very much a character driven film and I felt there was a good amount of character development, with some witty dialogue thrown in. I thought this film was quite engrossing - its very tense at times and was certainly an easy and entertaining watch. I liked that the female hostages came across as generally quite sharp-tongued and certainly not very ditzy, which is good to see, given the fact its a 70s film. If anything, the main characters of Sonny and Sal come across as having more vulnerabilities than the bank staff, who keep their fear(s) to themselves.

This is a tense and engrossing film and the fact its, if in part, based on a true story, made it more intriguing a watch for me. I felt the performances were especially good and I liked the character development and plot pace, although if im to be overly critical then I suppose I may question the response (or lack of at times) of the authorities. I'm happy to recommend this film as a good example of a crime drama/bank heist based film, with good performances.