Dog Day Afternoon

I promise will never complain about my bad luck again... Sidney Lumet made a perfect crime drama about one not exactly ordinary bank robbery, that in certain moments is more like a comedy. The role of Sonny Wortzik is one of Al Pacino’s greatest creations ever. He gives a perfect performance of an absolute wreck desperately trying to get the situation under control. John Cazale as Sal is pleasantly inconspicuous and for the whole time it’s apparent that he is consumed by fear. And it seems that the guy at the end in the minibus truly was Lance Henriksen. The screenplay is flawless and goes to show that even such a classic plot like a bank robbery can be turned into something so “different". (28/10/2006)

Al Pacino delivers another one of his incredible performances, directed by Sidney Lumet, who has created a film that can initially be seen as a comedy, but gradually develops into a story that you know cannot end well, even though you find yourself rooting for the anti-hero. Just like everyone else. (09/10/2015)

Sometimes everything goes wrong even before anything starts. How many times has a bank robbery been portrayed in a movie? No one can count that. And is it possible, after all those attempts, to see it in a way that you won't even breathe from the suspense? Definitely - Sidney Lumet managed to turn the so charismatic and demonic Pacino into an innocently looking boy, whose nerves can snap at any moment, and turned a bank robbery into a two-hour realistic spectacle, where the first gunshot almost scared me halfway through the movie. Great spectacle, the specific scenes of which Schumacher had probably watched countless times while shooting "Phone Booth". (05/02/2007)

An instruction video about how never under any circumstances to proceed during a bank robbery. Al Pacino excels in the main role, demonstrating all typical beginner’s mistakes. Mainly by completely outshining all the others with his performance. Which, in view of how interesting most characters are, is rather a shame; twice as much with respect to Cazale’s role. (07/06/2009)

Definitely one of the best bank robbery movies. Not only the drama and the game about the lives of the hostages and the two criminals, but also a bit of a portrait of the times (with allusions to the unlimited power of unions in the States at the time, the power of the media, the Attica massacre and the then despised homosexuality). A de-facto reconstruction of a real case, where it turns out that the best stories are written by life itself – in the first half there are many twists and turns and absurd situations, and with the arrival of the FBI agent, a psychological struggle begins, where you can cut the tension and the whole thing is watched in one breath. The young Al Pacino was already phenomenal at the time, and the master of supporting roles John Cazale with his unreadable expression ably seconded him. Sidney Lumet made several gems, this is one of them, and along with the likes of Arthur Penn, he is one of the most underrated filmmakers of the 1960s and 70s in my eyes. (15/07/2007)