What starts as a crime drama evolves into something more

Rating: 8/10 (13 October 2008)

What Sonny and Sal thought would be a quick bank robbery turns into something more-- that's the premise of "Dog Day Afternoon." At the same time, however, a film that convinces you that it falls somewhere within the lines of conventional crime drama, also turns into something much greater and infinitely more meaningful than that. It takes you deep into the psyche of a desperate man turned criminal and simultaneously broadens the scope to critique society.
You can pretty much tell from the start that Sonny (Pacino) is not a run-of-the-mill bank robber. He knows a lot about banks, but he has a nervous, frenetic energy about him. The film wisely dives straight into the robbery, not setting us up to know any of Sonny's motivation, which is slowly revealed and even then not clearly understood over the course of two hours. The writing is so terrific in the way that it starts with a small event but then expands and becomes richer through small, dialogue-heavy scenes. "Afternoon" sort of has the soul of a work for the stage in that sense, which makes it unique immediately.
Sidney Lumet is just an absolute master of the craft. Much like in "12 Angry Men," he uses strategic camera-work to convey time, intensity and pressure. He wants to get you sweating like the characters, unsure of what might happen next and paranoid about it. You wait for something to go horribly wrong, yet instead you are subjected to learning about the interesting lifestyle and behavior of Sonny.
"Afternoon" in a sense becomes both an individual and group psychological study of a particular situation in which there is a very clear conflict with very clear implications. From the cops negotiating outside the bank to the ladies trying to pass the time inside, the circumstances of the event have a definite bearing on the characters and also our experience of the film.
It's not a traditional film involving a bank robbery and that's easily the best part of this film. It is more than just the mystere surrounding bank robberies. Instead of painting a cool portrait of a professional criminal, it jumps into the mind of an average person who might actually commit a random crime to get money. Instead of nearing its climax with some sort of police break in and fight, it takes a much more reasonable turn. At the very least, "Afternoon" deserves respect for being a great film despite un-fulfilling our Hollywood bank robbery fantasies.