Full Movie Reviews
Rating of
4/4
LIFF32 (2018) #3
Matthew Brady - wrote on 11/15/2018
“Kiss me. When I'm being f**ked, I like to get kissed a lot.”
Dog Day Afternoon is a fantastic 'bank robbery gone wrong' movie, but becomes so much more than that.
I’ve been planning on watching this movie for awhile, but failed each time. Now it makes me appreciate my patience after finally checking it out at LIFF (Leeds International Film Festival). Seeing this on a big screen rather than a small one made the experience even more special.
The run time of two hours and 30 minutes, which is crazy because none of it dragged. I loved every minute of it. I was surprised how comedic it is, as I originally expected it to be a crime drama. It's hilarious seeing the hostages who were scared at first, but eventually got so comfortable around the robbers, they toy with their …
Rating of
3/4
"Dog Day Afternoon" by Yojimbo
Yojimbo - wrote on 03/25/2012
In the summer of 1972, a Vietnam veteran and an old comrade attempted to rob a Brooklyn bank so he could afford to pay for a sex change operation for his gay lover. When the heist goes awry, the situation soon degenerated into a media circus. This story is definitely a case of fact being stranger than fiction because bizarrely, this is based on a true story. Another classic thriller from Sidney Lumet's long career, this also is one of Al Pacino's defining performances but as is the case with a lot of his work, it's a bit of a one man show. The one note format (unavoidably so because of the source material) really just consists of Pacino talking to the hostages-talking to the police-talking to the hostages etc etc through til the end. All the best scenes involve him dealing with his …
Rating of
3/4
A bank robbery gone horribly wrong!
MovieAddict - wrote on 03/10/2012
Based on a true story Al Pacino portrays Sonny, a gay man who has left his wife and kids and is now living with a man who has confessed to him he's a transgender individual and the doctors have recommended a sex change for him. Sonny gets the crazy idea to rob a bank to get enough money to pay for his lover’s sex change operation.
He and his buddy John Cazale enter the Chase Manhattan First Savings Bank in Flatbush, Brooklyn hoping to carry out a quick robbery. They're supposed to be in and out one thing leads to another and they quickly find themselves trapped and surrounded by hundreds of New York's finest holding a bunch of unfortunate bank employees’ hostage.
I can't get over how young Pacino looks here and his mesmerizing performance is awe inspiring stuff, he mixes …
Rating of
3.5/4
Dog Day Afternoon review
Daniel Corleone - wrote on 08/09/2011
Since Al Pacino is my all-time favorite actor, I was fortunate enough to purchase the DVD without regret. Let’s begin with the cast, which all you need is Al Pacino (Sonny Wortzik) and John Cazale (Salvatore Naturil). They enacted as brothers in one of the greatest and most popular films in history (Godfather I and II) which in effect, played a huge role in their onscreen tandem. At that time, the relationship of “Sal” and Sonny was not acceptable. A film whose main objective was to rob a bank for his lover’s sex change is ludicrous. Still, it was effectively pulled off by Sidney Lumet because of his skilled directing, intriguing script, all around stunning performances and usage of resources. I personally felt Pacino should have won an Oscar, since his range in acting has …
Rating of
4/4
One of the most underated movies ever.
mdtinney - wrote on 08/19/2009
As much as I love discovering obscure and forgotten films, there are some more well known ones that are regarded as masterpieces for a reason. "Dog Day Afternoon" was a huge hit when released in the 70s, and won critical acclaim and was nominated for a good deal of Oscars. There's a simple reason it was held in such high regard, it really is a masterpiece. I've seen countless bank heist films in my time, and even with the more entertaining ones, there often seems to be a strong sense of deja-vu. So for an entry in the genre to impress me, it really has to do something special with the formula. "Dog Day Afternoon" follows a heist that falls to shambles from the very beginning. However, the film uses the crumbling heist and the media frenzy surrounding it to paint an absolutely compelling …
