Top-notch drama

Rating: 10/10 (15 January 2018)

Al Pacino delivers an outstanding performance as somewhat incompetent bank robber Sonny Wortzik, who, along with his partner Sal (played with understated melancholia by John Cazale), decides to knock over the First Brooklyn Savings Bank to pay for his 'wife's' (Chris Sarandon) gender-reassignment surgery. The heist quickly goes wrong, leaving the bemused and unprepared criminals and their hostages stuck in a stinking-hot bank, surrounded by cops, the media, and crowds of on-lookers. Based on a true story and once again affirming the adage that 'truth is stranger than fiction', "Dog Day Afternoon" is one of the best films to come out of the early 70's, with fantastic acting, tight direction and an excellent script (although much of the dialogue was improvised). Notable for being one of the five full length films Cazale starred in before dying of lung cancer, all of which were nominated for a Best Picture Oscar (three of which won the award).