Chiseling and Involving

Rating: Null/10 (14 July 2013)

Not much is explained about the bank robbery in Dog Day Afternoon at the picture's start. All the information we're given are the thieve's names and the dialogue exchanges they release to their captives. What's interesting is how connected we feel to the characters being held captive in the bank, the police trying to extinguish the situation, and the publicity outside. It's like we're one of the townspeople watching in the background or one of the tellers in the bank. We're put directly in the middle of the catastrophe and learn Sonny's motivations at the same time as the characters themselves them. Uniquely, we almost believe we are apart of this grand heist. We feel Sonny's humanity, despite the situation at hand.
Dog Day Afternoon tells us what we're about to see is an accurate depiction of these events that took place in New York City before the action of the movie begins. Once that idea was placed in my head, the more I felt like I was watching an event, not a movie. Director Sidney Lumet blurs the lines of cinema and journalistic news reporting. The film doesn't play as one or the other, instead it's a more involving experience. The screenplay brilliantly recounts the events and shapes together a suffocating and chiseling incident. Dog Day Afternoon accounts the amateur plans and actions of the characters realistically. It's a special film that taps on different parts of our mind and interest.
Al Pacino is the movie. He's in nearly every scene and commands the screen with his flawed, compassionate, warped character. Pacino attacks the character from the right approach. Sonny thinks he has everything under control, but he doesn't know or think he looks ridiculous or inexperienced. As the movie grows, the more we learn of Sonny and we see Pacino's portrayal growing and growing. The film finally arrives Sonny's character climax in a lengthy scene where Sonny speaks on the telephone. In that scene, Pacino reaches new levels of intensity that he only scraped the surface of in the Godfather trilogy.
The film contains little musical score, which works to its advantage. A musical score exists to aid the actors in expressing what the characters are feeling. In Dog Day Afternoon, we're watching a "common man" robbing a bank, it's a representation of a real-life event. Thanks to the cutting directing, involved writing, and absorbing acting, there's no need to force the audiences hand to understand the story. The film even boldly tackles issues of homosexuality with poise. Holding your attention, Dog Day Afternoon recounts the event probably better than it was played out in real-life.
Rating: 9/10
Grade: A