paid in full
Do not be confused by the year of release, this is a good, modern movie.
The dialogue written and plot is very well made . It is even better if you do not know the real story prior to watching this.
Overall you are captivated until the very end. You also may find yourself rooting for the so call 'bad' guys.
It is probably not easy to infuse humor into an action/drama movie but this is an example where it works very well.
Bravo.
merelyaninnuendo
Dog Day AfternoonThe sense of urgency fades away for a brief period of time in its middle act and that's the only weak link in this masterpiece that contains gripping screenplay, brilliant execution and stellar performance working all the way up to the ladder. Sidney Lumet still needs to be a bit strict on editing part but other than that he has done a great job from his side. Al Pacino is as usual, brilliant on portraying this broken real persona and brings out the best of him without any support (he literally is a one man show in this one). Dog Day Afternoon hits hard and fast with amusing perspective that stays true till the last frame along with an intense showdown between the cat and mouse sequences in its last act that always will be the highlight of this feature.
George Wright
I was delighted to get Dog Day Afternoon as a Christmas gift. I still watch DVDs and thank goodness for them. Other than TCM, there is only a slim chance of viewing this movie on television.
Finally getting to see the movie and its star Al Pacino was a bigger treat than I expected. Watching this robbery/hostage drama made me feel like I was right there minute by minute as the story unfolded. Sidney Lumet, a director of so many great movies set in New York, knew the territory.
The movie is set in Brooklyn in 1972 and it captures the squalor and the mood of the working class neighbourhood. At the time, New York was dealing with crime, bankruptcy, racial strife and the loss of faith in government. Pacino, playing Sonny, is an unemployed Italian-American in a failing marriage. Part of the story is an alliance he builds with neighbours who cheer for him as he is surrounded by police, FBI, and media reporters.
John Cazale plays the buddy Sal and Charles Durning is the seasoned police chief caught in a highly charged environment between the police and a crowd of rabble rousers cheering on the hostage takers. The full cast is great.
Glad I finally saw this movie, which I can now add to the many other great movies I've seen from the 1970's. Highly recommend.
rdoyle29
Sidney Lumet had an extraordinary talent for making movies that kind of sneak up on you with their greatness. I have seen this film at least a dozen times, and I know I love it, but I'm consistently surprised by just how great it really is and how many different things this film tackles and how well it accomplishes everything. It's a character study and it contains what is easily one of Pacino's greatest performances. (I was struck by how much you can just enjoy staring at Pacino's face on film.) It's about the relatively new phenomena of a media circus surrounding an event, and it's probably never been dealt with in a better way on film. It's pretty much a perfect film.
AD
