Dog Day Afternoon

From almost the first frame of Sidney Lumet’s Dog Day Afternoon, we are to realize that Sonny Wortzik (Al Pacino, based on the real person, John Wojtowicz) is a cataclysmic screw-up. He is there with two other men, Sal (John Cazale) and Stevie (Gary Springer), in front of a bank with the obvious intention of committing a robbery. But before things can even start to get going, Stevie chickens out and leaves the scene and the movie. This leaves Sonny and Sal to handle the robbery by themselves. Sonny obviously had no one else better he could have brought along for this and elected to go ahead with his plan anyway. We know from this moment on that he is in over his head and that we are there to see what kind of screw-up it will be that ends this ill-fated endeavor. 

That’s the setup for this 1975 film, an incredibly true story that only gets more insane the further we get into it. Without the realization that this was based on a true story, we might be forgiven for thinking of this as a farce, a shaggy-dog story meant to address social stigmas and the way the world treated a certain group of people back in the mid-1970s. It still is all that, but now it’s painted with the reality of truth. John Wojtowicz went to prison for this crime and got to see his story made into a film while he was still there, doing time for this very crime. One can only imagine how he felt about this notoriety. We do know that he, and his wife, filed separate lawsuits over the film but were gifted a pittance in the end since their real names were not used in the movie.

The film opens with the above-mentioned robbery, but the situation goes downhill very quickly. After Stevie bails on the team, Sonny, waving his shotgun around, betraying his lack of confidence, manages to get into the bank vault only to discover that he chose the wrong day to rob the bank. Hours before, nearly all the money in the vault had been picked up via armored car, and all that is left is barely $1,000. He knows enough not to take the few packs of hundreds in the drawers because they are marked bills, but before he and Sal can leave, they accidentally set off the fire alarm, and within minutes, the bank is surrounded by police, fireman, and the FBI. 

Sonny and Sal’s only bit of leverage is the hostages, which Sonny believes he can use as a means of escape, trading them one by one for food, transportation to an airfield, and a flight out of there to Algiers, where he thinks they will be safe. While the hostages are afraid at first, they soon grow comfortable with Sonny and lose that fear. But various health issues come into play, as well as attempts by the police to forcibly enter the bank. Sonny is communicating via telephone and in person with the face of the police outside, Sergeant Eugene Moretti (Charles Durning), and thinks he has the upper hand in the situation, but he doesn’t expect that the police and the feds have something cooking that will stop him from ever getting on that plane.

Meanwhile, the police have contacted Sonny’s wife, his mother, and another individual that will put the reason for the robbery into greater perspective. Sonny has a gay lover, Leon (Chris Sarandon), who attempted suicide when he couldn’t get gender reassignment surgery. Sonny’s attempt to rob the bank was to get the money for that surgery. When this news comes out, many in the crowd gathered outside the bank turn on him, no longer cheering for him.

I mentioned this in one of my other reviews, but John Cazale had one heck of a run as an actor. He starred in five films, all of which were Oscar-nominated Best Pictures. Those films were: The Godfather; The Godfather, Part II; The Conversation; The Deer Hunter; and Dog Day Afternoon. He was also in a relationship with Meryl Streep at the time. Tragically, he got cancer and was taken from us all too soon. It would have been amazing to see where his career and life could have gone. He is playing the slightly psychotic Sal here, always in the background but a big part of the tension as you never quite know whether he is going to snap and start shooting people. The police know he is the real threat, too, which is why their ultimate plan revolves around taking him out. It’s the one bit of true violence in the film, and it happens so fast you almost miss it.

Those making the complaint that Al Pacino has only one character that he just keeps playing over and over again need to watch this movie. This is a far more subtle performance than what he would become known for in his later career. It’s also a far cry from what he was doing just the previous year as Michael Corleone. This is Pacino before he became an on-screen personality. This is him playing a man who is trying to appear confident but is in over his head before he even begins. He tries to look tough and hard, but everyone can see that that is all bark. 

Sidney Lumet is an expert at making films that make you feel claustrophobia; one needs only look at 12 Angry Men to see that on full display. Here, though there are plenty of scenes outside the bank, whenever you are inside it, you can feel just how hot and stifling it is in there. We feel the heat of the summer day closing in on everyone, especially after the FBI arrives and the power is cut to the bank. People start having medical emergencies as their environment gets more and more hot, too, forcing Sonny to either let some people out or have a death on his hands. This is a brilliant device that Lumet is utilizing to ramp up the tension. Adding to that is the increasingly dangerous mentality of Sal, who is struggling to keep from losing it all and going out guns blazing. 

This film takes you to some unexpected places, some of which are such a surprise that they really catch you off-guard. It was a brilliant move to avoid any spoilers about Leon in any of the publicity, allowing unsuspecting audiences to form an opinion about Sonny before the big reveal. This put audiences into a position where they had to reexamine their own prejudices once his bi-sexuality is revealed. Pacino’s performance aids in this, too, with him never giving a hint about his sexuality before that big reveal. This is a masterpiece in character development both on the acting and the screenplay side.

Dog Day Afternoon is one of those little films that catches you off guard with its plot and the quality of the filmmaking. Yet, that shouldn’t be the case if you are familiar with Sidney Lumet’s films. He was one of the greatest directors out there, yet he never won a competitive Oscar despite being nominated four times. Instead, he was gifted an honorary Oscar in 2005 for his lifetime achievement. It is shocking that the director of 12 Angry Men, Dog Day Afternoon, Network, The Verdict, Murder on the Orient Express, and many more classics never got his director Oscar. But, in this case, the work speaks for itself, and Dog Day Afternoon is considered one of the greatest films of all time. Watching it, fifty years later, it’s easy to see why.

Academy Award Nominations:

Best Picture: Martin Bregman and Martin Elfand

Best Director: Sidney Lumet

Best Actor: Al Pacino

Best Supporting Actor: Chris Sarandon

Best Original Screenplay: Frank Pierson (won)

Best Film Editing: Dede Allen

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Release Date: September 20, 1975

Running Time: 125 Minutes

Rated R

Starring: Al Pacino, John Cazale, James Broderick, and Charles Durning

Directed by: Sidney Lumet