Review of Dog Day Afternoon (1975) by Tomas T — 25 Feb 2012

Dog Day Afternoon is a bank robbery film done right much thanks to the young Al Pacino and the master director Sidney Lumet. One would think that a bank robbery in the 1970's was a rather straightforward process, but the true story of Dog Day Afternoon bank robbery evolved from its simple origins into something much more complex.

The movie is all about about Sonny (Al Pacino), a desperate Vietnamese War veteran pushed into a corner with no apparent way out. Traumatized by Vietnamese war and feeling trapped in an unsatisfactory marriage due to his sexual preference, Sonny has the makings of a man resolving into desperate acts. On a hot summer day in 1972 Sonny reached his limit and with his disturbed companion in crime - Sal (John Cazales) - they invaded a oblivious New York bank. Despite having a solid plan for the heist, the planned 4 minute robbery quickly turned into a dragging hostage farce. Sonny realizing the desperate situation when facing literally hundreds of police officers, he cleverly excited the gathering crowd outside the bank and turned the situation into a media circus.

For a very simple story the Dog Day Afternoon has lots of content and pleasantly many plot twists during the running time. Much of the credit for keeping the interest up for the whole 2h 30min running time belongs to Al Pacino. His involving and energetic interpretation of Sonny grabs the attention and keeps viewer involved for better part of the movie. Add in the director's skillful directing which dramatizes literally every scene and makes up some very convincing mass outdoor scenes, the Dog Day Afternoon has makings of a great film. And great the movie is for better half of the movie but around middle of the movie's epic 2h 30min running time the progress practically comes into a standstill making some of the scenes in the closed space of a hot bank office feel endless. Fortunately towards the end of the movie intensity again picks up and the film leaves overall a very positive imprint. For such a simple story the Dog Day Afternoon is a nice surprise and despite the bit dragging pace the film is well worth of watching.