Character study and social commentary

Rating: 8/10 (12 July 2011)

The opening montage of New York City scenes on a hot summer's day quickly establishes time and place. On that hot summer day Sonny, Sal, and Stevie decide to rob a small Brooklyn bank. When Sal (John Cazale) walks into a bank, pulls an automatic weapon from his attaché case and points it at the bank manager, you think that this is going to be just another heist movie, but it quickly turns into something quite different. The first hint we get of this is when Stevie starts getting "bad vibes." When Sonny argues with him that the crime is already underway, but Stevie leaves the scene, you realize then that these three guys are complete amateurs.
What sets this movie apart from other heist movies is that it really isn't about the robbery, it's about the characters, mainly Sonny and Sal. Sonny is presented as a complex person. He can be kind-hearted, on the one hand, worrying about whether his hostages are hungry for example, but on the other hand he can explode in anger. His reason for the robbery was to fund a sex change operation for his homosexual lover. And, oh, Sonny is also married with children. Getting to know Sal is a different matter. Cazale plays him as a withdrawn loner who could easily kill without remorse. The FBI quickly sizes up the situation, tagging Sonny as someone they could probably deal with, but recognizing Sal as a true menace. Absent Sal this movie could almost be seen as a satiric comedy; with Sal, a dark cloud hangs over the proceedings.
The movie offers some searing commentary on the media and its effect on behavior. During the course of the day television stations are on the ground and in the air with almost continuous coverage. The accounting of the effect the media has on behavior is perceptive. Sonny gets a charge from playing to the crowds and being on TV and being paid attention to. The crows are more than happy to participate in the spectacle and the hostages are so taken with having their fifteen minutes of fame that one woman did not even take the opportunity to escape when she had the chance. Sad to say that in the decades since this movie was made, things have only gotten worse with personal interest stories and personalities dominating the news cycles. So, the social behaviors pointed out are so well established by 2011 that this movie is dated in that respect.
The opening text stating that this is a true story is misleading; it is not a documentary. For example, in the real event Sal was a volatile eighteen year old. "Based on a true story" would be a more accurate description.
Some scenes stretched my belief. Would Sonny actually give his gun over to a hostage and try to teach her how to present arms? Would the dangerous Sal be so easily convinced to point his weapon away from the FBI agent driving the limo?