Dog Day Afternoon Movie Information

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Movie Information

Overall Rank: 199

Average Rating: 3.2/4

# of Ratings: 414

Theatrical Release Date: 08/29/1975

Language: English

Genre: Crime, Thriller

MPAA Rating: R

Director: Sidney Lumet

Actors: Al Pacino, John Cazale, Carol Kane, Charles Durning, James Broderick, Chris Sarandon

Plot: A man tries to rob a bank to pay for his girlfriend's surgery when it turns into a long hostage situation in which none of the crooks are very skilled at.

Logan D. McCoy - wrote on 05/05/2021

Sidney Lumet was a master at making the most confined and single set films into engaging dramas, and "Dog Day Afternoon" marks his most violently intense example.

Mary - wrote on 03/13/2015

Always amazed Al did not win an Oscar for this brilliant portrayal.

Chris Kavan - wrote on 09/26/2012

Superb direction and great casting - that feeling of being stuck right there with them in bank, dripping sweat - you don't just feel like you're watching a movie, you're experiencing it. This is a classic thriller in the best sense of the word and anyone who likes a tightly-woven story should be interested in it.

Matthew Brady
Movie God

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 …

Yojimbo
Movie God

"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 …

MovieAddict
Producer

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 …