Works so well on so many levels

Rating: 9/10 (30 November 2010)

The robbery should have taken 10 minutes. 4 hours later, the bank was like a circus sideshow. 8 hours later, it was the hottest thing on live TV. 12 hours later, it was all history. And it's all true.
This tagline says it all perfectly. In 1972 a bisexual man robbed a bank to pay for his gay lover's sex change. It should have gone smooth and simple but exploded into a media extravaganza that ended up taking twelve hours to get sorted out, just as the tagline states. Dog Day Afternoon is the film that came out of these events. Al Pacino plays Sonny Wortzik, the man robbing the bank with his friend Sal, played by the late and great John Cazale. The entirety of the movie is set during the robbery with no setup of the characters or backstory. Everything we need to know unfolds amidst the action. The movie is tremendous in its claustrophobic and limited setting in a small bank on a New York street corner.
Al Pacino is the shining star of this film. He plays his character to perfection, and is absolutely fascinating and exciting to watch. I couldn't see anyone in this role except for the vulgar and fast talking Pacino. John Cazale as Sal is also an excellent casting decision, despite the fact he has few lines in the film. But what he does for the film is eerily excellent. Sal remains at a level of high strung paranoia the entire film, restoring its harrowing attitude when it starts to dwindle. Other major players include Charles Durning as the police chief who tries to subtly out wit Sonny throughout the movie, maintaining his calm and collected attitude so as not to stir up any unnecessary excitement from his armed counterpart. Chris Sarandon plays Leon, Sonny's gay lover who appears in one of the most intimate and sincere scenes of the entire film. Every bit of his scene had my eyes glued to the screen. It was one of the many places we got to see the different intensity levels of Sonny, who was loud and frightening in some scenes, then calm and sentimental in others. It all added to his perfect characterization.
The entire cast of the bank, which includes the bank manager and a number of female bank tellers also do a fantastic job at driving the intimate character interaction at the heart of this film. Their response to the bank robbery is complete and utter cooperation, so as to protect their own lives. But as media attention grows around the robbery, they seize the opportunity for their own 15 minutes of fame, and even end up befriending Sonny who doesn't want to hurt anybody, he just wants money. It's a fascinating study of human interaction under extreme pressure that bares some interesting and even comical results when we see how the friendly relationship unfolds between Sonny and the teller girls. Then of course we see the reaction of the outside to this situation. Sonny becomes an instant draw of attention for anybody looking for some good reality television on a hot summer day in New York. But more interestingly, he even molds into a hero to the anti law enforcement advocates in the city who come to the robbery scene and cheer him on. People with all sorts of opposing opinions come to watch this robbery unfold, and it makes for a brilliantly played out character study.
Fascinatingly enough, Dog Day Afternoon covers a lot of societal ground for being such a limited plot and setting. It deals with law enforcement influence, mainstream media and its effects on society, and even gay rights. The reveal that this tough bank robber is gay stirs up so much confusion in the accumulated crowd. There are people who immediately turn against Sonny when they learn this, but he also then inspires a whole other community, those who support gay rights and transexuality. As the movie unfolds Sonny's stardom branches to so many places, and the way we see him deal with it all is incredible, due to the fact that he is still worrying about how to get away with this bank robbery.
Despite its limited resources, this movie stays very exciting the entire way through, and it was one of those movies where I was so drawn in by everything that was happening that I never wanted it to end. The film stems across so many different genres, and it all flows together so seamlessly. It begins as a typical heist film and develops into a smart crime thriller with some bits of comedy splashed in there, but never overplayed or forced. It then morphs into a deeply emotional drama at points as well as a sentimental and highly unconventional romance. It is amazing how well this blend of genres works in perfect motion together with no aspect of the film becoming overbearing. Everything comes together exquisitely, and I enjoy it all anymore.
Dog Day Afternoon works as a character study, a crime thriller, and a drama. It is a fascinating story that covers so much ground, but doesn't force feed any one idea to you. Lumet stays respectful to the story he is telling by making it an exciting and thrilling story that focuses so well and so strongly on the development of Sonny, who no one could have played as excellently as Al Pacino. This movie has become one of my new favorites.