Dog Day Afternoon Review

Dog Day Afternoon is a powerful 1975 crime drama film directed by Sidney Lumet and starring Al Pacino in the leading role as Sonny Wortzik. The film is inspired by P.F. Kluge's Life article "The Boys in the Bank", which tells the story of the robbery of a Brooklyn bank by John Wojtowicz and Salvatore Naturile on August 22, 1972. It went on to receive much critical acclaim and garnered six Academy Academy Award nominations as well as seven Golden Globe nominations.

One of the most amazing aspects of this film is the mesmerizing performance by Al Pacino. In my opinion it is one of the greatest acting performances in film history. It's just incredible how great and memorable it really is. You can tell that director Sidney Lumet let Pacino run wild with the character and had no boundaries for him at all. Another very excellent performance in the film is John Cazale as Salvatore  Naturile, Sonny's partner in the robbery. He has almost a childlike innocence throughout and provides much comic relief in what is one of the many memorable roles in the film.

 A lot of credit needs to go to Sidney Lumet for making this exceptional film. You could easily go on and on about how wonderful it is in so many ways. Whether you want to talk about the superb acting by the entire cast, the masterful cinematography and directing, or the transcendent script that is very viewer engaging. Dog Day Afternoon is a classic movie that every film lover needs to see at least once in their life.

Overall Rating: 4/5