Instructions on how not to rob a bank.

Rating: 9/10 (31 August 2011)

Dog Day Afternoon is an on-reel embodiment of Murphy's Law - anything that can wrong will. Three men decide to rob a bank. Nothing seems to have been premeditated; it is almost as if they were going for lunch but make an impulsive detour. They go in and brandish their guns. One chickens out, leaves, while the two hold fort. Murphy springs his evil trap. The bank is found to have been emptied the same day, leaving only $1,100. And the cops have surrounded the building. The cops cannot storm the place since the two men Sonny Wortzik (Al Pacino) and Sal (John Cazale) are holding hostages - the bank manager, an asthmatic guard and a bunch of female recruits. The situation is precariously balanced on a knife's edge. One wrong move and the whole thing blows. It's a deadlock; a stalemate. Despite bleak hopes of making out, Sonny refuses to surrender. He and his partner don't want to go to jail. The cops too are willing to play ball, for it is a hostage situation. Placing everything neatly on a landmine, the story unfurls. That is Dog Day Afternoon for you.
Easily the most distinctive feature of the film is Pacino as the flamboyant Sonny. He is not a professional thief and does try to be one. He is a street-smart war veteran with almost no experience of working on the other side of the law and it succinctly shows. He is amateurish in every way possible – his clothes (brown tuxedo, pale yellow shirt with a stripped red and orange neck-tie), his demands and his behavior under pressure are all marred by the lack of professionalism. He is awfully kind to his captives and tries to keep them under the utmost care, perhaps a symptom of Stockholm syndrome. He isn't a cold-hearted, callous thief, and that is why you feel sorry for him. Pacino plays his role so delightfully that even watching him is sheer ecstasy. He does not impersonate Sonny. He slips into his skin and adopts his identity with perfection.
John Cazale as Sal too does not get overshadowed under the imposing stature (at 5'7'', not literally of course) of Al Pacino. It is unfortunate that Cazale got to do merely five feature films (The Godfather, The Godfather: Part 2, The Deer Hunter, The Conversation and Dog Day Afternoon) before his untimely demise. Though in demeanour, he is quite the opposite of his partner – dark, silent and brooding with a foreboding air about him, the two get on pretty well, except for trivial disagreements when the look in Sal's cold, black eyes makes you fear that he will convert the entire bank into a slaughterhouse. He is the one who holds the hostages when Sonny, ever the people's man, negotiates with the cops under the sign of truce. He maintains his character with dignity, never letting the viewer slip from the impression that this is a dangerous man.
Another highlight of the film is a trademark Sidney Lumet move – the way in which he has treated political issues, a thing that further adds to the drama and the taught, uncertain atmosphere. The director is popular for such twists in the tale. While in 12 Angry Men, he took on racism and darker sides of human idiosyncrasy and in Network he tackled the media, this time he has brought to light Attica prison riot, homosexuality and media, the latter in a different manner.
Sonny cites the example of Attica when asked to surrender, which was a similar hostage situation in a prison where the prisoners demanded for better living conditions. Around forty people were killed by the State police, the innocent with the guilty. The memory of this incident helps him incite the masses who suddenly begin sympathizing with him and makes him something of a messiah. Around the middle of the movie, Sonny is revealed to be homosexual. Though not much has been said about the rampant prejudice against homosexuality, this fact helps him gain support from the homosexual community of the town. They appreciate that Sonny hasn't kept his secret closeted. It isn't long before almost all the throngs of people waiting outside the bank back Sonny. But it certainly makes us hope that Lumet wasn't trying to insinuate that all homosexuals should start grabbing guns and robbing their neighbourhood banks to gain recognition and popularity. That would be slightly inconvenient.
The media plays a crucial part through this tumultuous roller-coaster ride. The thing about robbing a bank that appears so tantalizing so everyone, except the police, is the instant stardom, which is beautifully highlighted by a scene in the movie, where a delivery boy delivers a pizza to Sonny and yells excitedly to the cameras, 'I'm a f*****g star!'
The concept is simple; nothing fancy, nothing extraordinary, but the prowess with which it has been portrayed constantly keeps the viewer on tenterhooks. The movie has a nonchalant, almost caustic sense of humour. It does appear overdrawn (125 minutes), but a Scorsese-like ending which gives the viewer the impression that the director suddenly decided to pack up makes up for it. The movie, however, might put you under the belief that the tale is too far-fetched to be feasible ('no one robs a bank just like that!'), but then again, this is a real-life story.