Look deeper to see the real Dog

Rating: Null/10 (9 February 1999)

An incident/procedural drama studying all roles in its unfolding--perpetratorss, hostages, cops, the media, and spectators. The sum of the parts is greater than the whole, and all parts have a responsibility in any moral judgement of its outcome. Especially criticized is the relationship between the perpetrator of actions and the media, and the media's position to both report to and represent the spectator public. What starts out as an act of personal desperation escalates into public forum as self-described "good Catholic" Sonny instigates his own gladiatorial trial of grievances using the loudest voice in the land--media--to build camaraderie and incite sympathy. "Attica! Attica!" is the mantra of the day. Sal, Sonny's fellow perpetrator, has no such self-cleansing need. His inner demons have never heard of the Geraldo show.
The film quickly takes an hysterical tone. Most of the dialogue is shouted. As the heat increases, Sonny's neuroses are paraded out.
Halfway through the Nixon years, the steam ran out of the protest movement. Why? One reason was that the powers that be--government and big business--had re-gained control of the media by learning the lessons taught by the radicals in how to manipulate it. Demonstrating became passe. Counter-culture was absorbed into the mass media--Mod Squad, Laugh-In, Alice B. Toklas, etc--and its idealism trivialized. TV sees only surface. It does not have the attention span to unearth deeper thoughts.
Sonny is a good man using the wrong means for his hopes and dreams. He becomes a symbol of a larger body of protest and anger.
As a result, the movie negates the moral crux of its time by making Sonny subject to such hysterical judgment. It is saying it was all a temper tantrum collectively thrown by a bunch of neurotics who couldn't work out their personal problems. Sonny, as a character and a symbol, is finally deemed pathetic and small, his power diminished to nothing more than the deafening but harmless noise of jets at the airport.
Ultimately, this film constricts the art and possibilities of cinema into the confines of its bastard child--TV.