Smart Puppy

Rating: Null/10 (28 April 2001)

Spoilers herein.
This was back when Pacino had control of himself. He's fun to watch. It's an energetic style of acting that has too much `watch me act' quality to qualify for greatness. But enjoyable.
Lumet scalpeled himself to the world class with `12 Angry Men,' where his camera breathed with the same rhythm of the ensemble. Here, he generally lacks that magic, and the writing isn't very tight either.
But one scene is immortal, on my list of the best 50 scenes in not-excellent films. The phone conversation between Sonny and `wife' Leon is great naturalism. This is Lumet and company at their very best. Watch how the framing moves, the conversation unfolds, how we are drawn into the most intimate pathos -- how they help us escape the voyerism of the crowds right outside, and the many others listening in.
This was Sarandon's first film. His excellence here and his mundane career since (including Prince Humperdink in `Princess Bride') may say something about how a director can weave an emotional potential in others.