Film at it's finest.

Rating: 10/10 (25 March 2012)

Dog Day Afternoon is a perfect example of a character drama that slowly builds into something much more. Sidney Lumet's finest film starts off as a simple bank robbery but eventually becomes not only the shattering tale of this true story but also a commentary on the media and the public. Al Pacino's Sonny Wortzik is essentially a normal guy who has been put into circumstances to commit a crime, but he is quickly turned by everyone else into something much more. An idol to some and a monster to others, the public create this figure who stands as something to them beyond anything that he actually is.
We hear tales from the people in his life, from his wife Angie to his lover Leon (played so well by Chris Sarandon), of what a bastard he is, often falling victim to an explosive temper, yet the public sees him as a hero. He screams obscenities at the police and forces them to recall the Attica Prison riot, feeding off the attention that he is given by the public. They turn him into something else, but inside the bank he's just a cornered man who doesn't know what to do. Pacino's portrayal is his finest work and stands as one of the finest performances I've ever seen in a film. He is fascinating, empathetic and always commanding.
Sonny is a significantly flawed man, but Pacino makes it easy to see why the hostages he takes were so enamored with him. The real life workers of the bank commented after words that they had a great time and if Sonny and his partner Sal (John Cazale) had been over at their house for a dinner party it would have been one of the best nights of their life, and Pacino shows this side of Sonny in his performance. The people who knew him tell a totally different side of him than what we see in the bank, but as the walls close in on him you can see those other layers start to creep out.
It's a grueling experience for Sonny, lasting over an entire day inside that bank, and Pacino makes you feel every minute of it by the end. He starts off on fire, exploding off the screen in the opening scenes, but as the day wears on he becomes beaten and exhausted, perhaps not thinking as clearly as he should and maybe even wanting to be arrested just so that the whole disastrous experience can be over. Pacino creates a performance as sensational as the media and public turned Sonny into, and it's a wonder to behold and made even more impressive by the fact that most of the dialogue (including the lengthy phone conversation between him and Sarandon) was improvised.