Released in 1975 to rave reviews and massive box office success, Dog Day Afternoon really does feel like the product of a very different time. A movie like this would today likely be released as a series, or as something dropped on a streaming service without much fuss or notice. In 1975, it was simply a wide-release movie with a decent budget and some of the most phenomenally talented artists in the medium at that time working on it. This is one I always wish I could have seen in its original theatrical run.
Dog Day Afternoon’s story seemed to connect and resonate with audiences who also found the film to be a fantastic piece of drama. It made a startling and intense impression on me at a young age simply for portraying Al Pacino as a man who could barely keep up with the seemingly thousands of things going wrong with his bank robbery. Pacino was just starting to become known for playing tightly wound men running out of rope, but Dog Day Afternoon feels different from Serpico or even Cruising.
I’ve watched Dog Day Afternoon probably 20 times in my life so far. It has an energy I imagine captivated audiences from its opening and never looked back. Better than most of the thousands of movies I’ve seen at this point in my life, Dog Day Afternoon depicts the frustrations of the marginalized fringes of society with a tone both cinematic and stylized but with the sharpness of a non-fiction story that can’t help but make a serious impression on me or anyone else.
Dog Day Afternoon is a story of three (quickly two) men making a desperate bid at breaking away from the hate, madness, and sadistic heat of New York City forever. It features a performance by Pacino worth watching for anyone who appreciates good acting, but close behind are performances by Charles Durning, John Cazale, Penelope Allen, and Chris Sarandon. This is the best possible cast performing one of the best scripts ever written under the direction of a man who also helmed films like 12 Angry Men, Network, and Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead.
In short, everything that could be described as some of the best examples of what cinema itself has to offer that can’t be found anywhere else can be found in this movie. It absolutely needed to be a product of its time, proving that some movies really can stand up through the decades.
Nothing combines deep despair and rage with stakes and pacing so exquisite and thrilling, you hope against the likelihood that Sonny (Pacino) and Sal (Cazale) are utterly doomed. This is true whether or not you know Dog Day Afternoon is based on a very famous New York City bank robbery from 1972. The main thread of Sonny (in real life John Wojtowicz) robbing a bank to fund his wife’s sex reassignment surgery (Chris Sarandon portrayed the character loosely based on Elizabeth Eden) is basically true. The movie doesn’t disconnect from the actual events where it counts, and not once does the movie treat its gay or straight characters as anything other than human beings. Dog Day Afternoon takes an even-handed approach to its characters that as a writer I’ve always found fascinating.
This is one of the greatest movies of all time. If you haven’t seen it yet, you’re missing out on a feverish blend of action, tension, and shockingly effective moments of comedy. Dog Day Afternoon crackles eternally with life and meaning.
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