Excellent!

Rating: 9/10 (28 August 2006)

"Dog day afternoon" is one of the most entertaining and well-made movies ever made. It doesn't use any action or violence, but it amazingly captures the viewers'attention with good acting, well written dialog and movie magic that keeps you on your feet wondering what's going to happen next.
A unique part of this movie is it's atmosphere and settings. It has such a realistic feel of New York in the 70's that you can't help to love it and remember it. Another part contributing to its uniqueness is that it isn't your typical heist movie- it doesn't show the robbers' being masterminds and harsh criminals, it shows them as average people who have never attempted such a thing before.
It is the character of the very desperate and depressed Sonny (Al Pacino)that earns your sympathy. One thing in this movie you can't relate to is authority- you almost can't blame Sonny him for robbing the bank.
The lowest point in the movie is in the end scene when he is busted and looking around at all the police happy that he was put in jail- and his partner dead, one cannot help but feel sympathy for Sonny and resent the unsympathetic authority in the movie, for not realizing he is a desperate man rather then a bad person. It is a highly disappointing scene, that crashes the enjoyment of rooting for Sonny and his partner, and hoping he gets out successfully.
One other low point in the movie is when the character of Moretti is removed. This is the police officer that had all those confrontations in the movie with Sonny, and strangely disappears about 3/4s of the way in, when a more unlikable FBI character comes in which coincides with a lot of the excitement slowing down and you can see the movie goes slightly downhill.
Besides these minor criticisms, "Dog day afternoon" remains a great film that many enjoy to this day, and rightfully has the status of a classic.