A Superb Film and Flawless Performance from Al Pacino

Rating: 10/10 (8 August 2007)

Al Pacino gives what I think is the best performance of his career in this stellar Sidney Lumet film. Pacino plays an amateur bank robber who wants to use the stolen money to pay for his lover's (Chris Sarandon's) sex change operation. All goes wrong and the robbery becomes a media frenzy, and Pacino becomes a sort of hero, winning the sympathy of the crowd against the authorities. This anti-establishment story is so bizarre that it's no surprise that the film is based on true events. Truth is stranger than fiction, indeed.
Pacino plays his character as a lovable, frenzied, desperate regular Joe, and our hearts go out to him. He's not a bad guy, but he's a guy who has made a lot of bad decisions and trapped himself in a corner. Charles Durning gives a fine performance as the chief of the police who develops some sympathy of his own for the hapless crook. And John Cazale, the poor perennially overlooked John Cazale, plays Pacino's right-hand man.
Lumet directs with a fast, breathless pace. It's easy to see how his background in television work makes him a perfect choice to direct this kind of "reality T.V." material. Indeed, as is the mark of many a classic film, the situations portrayed in "Dog Day Afternoon" could all too easily play themselves out for real today without much alteration.
Grade: A+