Dog Day Afternoon

Everybody loves a good bank heist film. This is evidenced by thecommercial and critical success of films like Ocean’s Eleven, Heat, Point Break and so on and so on. But one film that is criminally far less known or remembered by people is Dog Day Afternoon. The film stars Al Pacino, John Cazale and Chris Sarandon. The film was directed by Sidney Lumet and released in 1975.

Based upon a real-life story that happened in the early seventies in which the Chase Manhattan Bank in Gravesend, Brooklyn, was held siege by a bank robber (for reasons I won’t give away). On a hot summer afternoon, the First Savings Bank of Brooklyn is held up by Sonny and Sal, two down-and-out characters. Although the bank manager and female tellers agree not to interfere with the robbery, Sonny finds that there's actually nothing much to steal, as most of the cash has been picked up for the day. Sonny then gets an unexpected phone call from Police Captain Moretti, who tells him the place is surrounded by the city's entire police force. Having few options under the circumstances, Sonny nervously bargains with Moretti, demanding safe escort to the airport and a plane out of the country in return for the bank employees' safety.

Unlike the other films I’ve mentioned, not only is the heist not an overly complicated and well planned out heist, but they don’t even succeed. The heist occurs in the first 5-10 minutes of the film and is very obviously amateur and poorly thought out. The rest of the film is a very tense negotiation phase between Sonny and the authorities.

Throughout the film you will find yourself constantly on the edge of your seats in terms of tension, this feeling is accomplished by the claustrophobia of the bank setting. The electricity gets cut causing it to be incredibly dark and hot. The combination of the darkness and how uncomfortable and angry both the robbers and the hostages become because of the heat.

Pacino is at the top of his game in this film, has he had better performances? Yes. But this is still top 5 in my opinion. Cazale was an actor from that time who tragically died far too early, however this is in my opinion his best film. The film has a lot of dated cheesiness in it, especially from the extras. A few times throughout the film Sonny steps outside the bank to give a speech, in response many of the civilians gathered around the bank will chant and scream praises towards Sonny. While this can be enjoyable to watch Pacino control the crowd, it is very hokey and so 70s.

This film is incredible. It should be considered a classic, and is criminally underrated. If you have yet to see this film, take my advice and watch this film IMMEDIATELY!

Score: 9/10