A wonderfully peculiar illustration of Murphy's Law

Rating: 8/10 (25 July 2016)

Sidney Lumet, the legendary director of 12 Angry Men and Network, is operating at the upper echelon of his ability in Dog Day Afternoon. Based on a true story of a bank hostage situation gone incredibly wrong, this film shows us that "anything that can go wrong, will go wrong." This film is brilliantly conceived with much of the brilliance stemming from the sheer quirkiness displayed at every turn. The script (which earned Frank Pierson an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay) is extraordinarily nuanced and brought to life by many electric performances from its cast.
Al Pacino is magnificent as Sonny Wortzik, the inexperienced, bumbling criminal. He absolutely throws himself into Sonny's mind and perfectly captures even the smaller mannerisms and body language that likely go unnoticed by many. His wired eyes sharply contrast his physical state of exhaustion and you physically observe the fatigue both Pacino and his character are enduring throughout this film.
Ultimately, you feel for Sonny because Pacino is able to masterfully force his vulnerability and compassion - the humanistic side of him - into some semblance of bravado. In scenes like when a teller needs to go to the washroom or when the bank guard has an asthma attack, Sonny shows a genuinely caring side to him. This is a bad man performing an act of evil and, yet, we feel some degree of sympathy for what Sonny has endured until this point. Along for the heist is Sal (played by John Cazale), who regrets his involvement in it all the second the two step foot into the bank. The man was simply excellent in every film he was in.
Overall, this film is a masterpiece from a director who was always so deft at using the camera to feel like a kind of onlooker; as it subtly observes the events unfolding before it, we too are immersed into the story and thus given a more tangible, relatable story. Like in 12 Angry Men, we are not a moviegoer; but rather a silent bystander enduring the tense, overheated conditions with its characters. And of course, further life is breathed into the plot by excellent supporting performances including those from Charles Durning, Chris Surandon and James Broderick. An entertaining and perfectly executed story.