Something Special

Rating: 10/10 (20 November 2008)

It's rare that a performance such as Al Pacino's Sonny Wortzik in this film is matched. Others like Jack Nicholson's Randall McMurphy in One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest or Heath Ledger's The Joker in The Dark Knight give young actors a chance to prove themselves and show exactly what great talent they possess.
Dog Day Afternon is about a young bisexual man Sonny(Al Pacino)and his friend Sal (John Cazale) who try to rob a bank to get the money for Sonny's male lover for his sex-change operation. However, things get out of hand when the police get involved and surround the bank with armed gunmen.
The film's most famous sequence shows Sonny walking up and down the pavement unarmed with policeman all around screaming "Attica! Attica!". Attica in question is a prison where, according to the main character, guards killed at least 100 people, innocent and guilty.
This movie certainly is very different from other Al Pacino movies in the 70s (With the exception of the two Godfathers) and the direction from Sydney Lumet is very well structured.