Dog Day Afternoon dramatizes the events that happened on August 22, 1972. Al Pacino portrays John Wortzik, who in the films is named Sonny, as well as other characters that are renamed. So Al Pacino decides one afternoon that he needs money, so he and two of his friends go to rob a bank. But almost immediately one of them drops out. So, It's down to Al Pacino and his pal John Cazale trying to rob said bank. After about fifteen minutes of screen time trying to get money, Al sets a fire on some bank records and the police are notified. After that it all goes downhill for everybody as Sonny tries to figure out what to do. Al Pacino does a great job portraying this character and he interacts well with the supporting cast. Probably one of his best roles. Now I could easily see how this film could have gone in a totally different direction and make a complicated storyline with several points of view on the same event. Thankfully, though, the filmmakers kept it basic and there were no complications with the plot. Also, I went into the film knowing what the motivation for the robbery, but as a viewer, it would have been better to not know because it is all told gradually through individual scenes. The whole film is basically conversations between Pacino and his hostages or the police outside of the bank. If it weren't for the amazing dialogue besides the acting, this movie would have failed miserably. But it didn't. In fact, to me at least, Dog Day Afternoon was a complete success.
The Verdict:
Dog Day Afternoon is great. Great dialogue, great acting, direction, you name it. I wasn't there in Brooklyn on that faithful day in August of 1972, but after seeing this movie, I felt like I was right in the middle of it. I give it five gallons of sweat out of five. 5/5.
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