Life Cycle of a Cult of Personality

Rating: 9/10 (23 August 2011)

"Dog Day Afternoon" asks several difficult questions about the roles celebrity, money, media and responsibility play in our everyday lives. Al Pacino puts so much into his portrayal of Sonny, the stressed-out intellectual pressed a few steps over the edge, that it's no surprise he nearly suffered a nervous breakdown on set. It's genuinely amazing how much quality characterization the filmmakers were able to fit into this regular-sized package, and not just for the lead parts. By the time Sonny, Sal and their hostages are ready to leave the confines of the bank behind, we know more intimate details about every one of them (and, perhaps, ourselves as a society) than we ever could've guessed going in. Throwing out the script and using largely improvised dialog was a key decision, transforming a film that could have easily become a thin piece of exploitation into something much more vivid and real. It does slow down quite a bit just before the climax, but in the grand scheme that only adds more tension to the rapid-fire conclusion.