Tells a fascinating and unsettling true story, and does so well, without pretending to have all the answers.

This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

I was delighted to get Dog Day Afternoon as a Christmas gift. I still watch DVDs and thank goodness for them. Other than TCM, there is only a slim chance of viewing this movie on television. Finally getting to see the movie and its star Al Pacino was a bigger treat than I expected. Watching this robbery/hostage drama made me feel like I was right there minute by minute as the story unfolded. Sidney Lumet, a director of so many great movies set in New York, knew the territory. The movie is set in Brooklyn in 1972 and it captures the squalor and the mood of the working class neighbourhood. At the time, New York was dealing with crime, bankruptcy, racial strife and the loss of faith in government. Pacino, playing Sonny, is an unemployed Italian-American in a failing marriage. Part of the story is an alliance he builds with neighbours who cheer for him as he is surrounded by police, FBI, and media reporters. John Cazale plays the buddy Sal and Charles Durning is the seasoned police chief caught in a highly charged environment between the police and a crowd of rabble rousers cheering on the hostage takers. The full cast is great. Glad I finally saw this movie, which I can now add to the many other great movies I've seen from the 1970's. Highly recommend.

Great directing, exceptional acting, the right dose of humor and a great story make a winning combination. This is unlike a bank robbery you have ever seen and years before numerous directors made films about bank robberies. Pacino and John Cazale hit this film out of the park. Their stellar performances make this film iconic, I am not sure if any other actors could have had the same impact. Essentially we see a bank robbery that is badly planned turn into a media circus. After seeing the unstable and excited personalities of Pacino we understand why. For a film that escalates and a situation that increasingly grows out of control it flows perfectly. You are carefully taken through a chain of events. The humor is also brilliantly done and also flows effortlessly as to not take away the drama and intensity of the robbery. The unplanned robbery, virtually no money being robbed and the unlikely bonding with their captors endears the bank robbers to the audience. You want them to succeed and possibly root for their escape. Despite the circus and things going out of control it appears the duo will succeed as the film nears its end. The film also delivered some shocking moments. I had the same expression as Al Pacino's character at the end of the film. Al Pacino steals the show with his fits of rage, expressions and always being on the edge. This film is highly recommended, 8.5/10

Even before the midpoint I was heading to IMDb for a 10 on 10 rating. Tons of bank robbery movies out there and this is just mind-blowing. Unique, funny, natural (thanks to the casting and performance) and awesome till the end. I could not get over Cazale's dialogue of not wanting to have a smoke. He may have had cancer during that time. He died three years later of lung cancer. Great performance by him too.I can't thank Sidney Lumet and the writer enough for the experience I had gone through while watching this masterpiece. Fact indeed is incredibly stranger than fiction. I am watching for the first time and could not seriously believe the movie was made in 70s. I will watch again to enjoy, and learn. In our language, we call it "Otha, maasu!"

(Originally reviewed: 19/01/2017) Bank robbery films usually don't get a single nomination at the academy awards, so I was intrigued to why this received a best picture nomination; the answer is simple, it has a baited plot device where one of the robbers just so happens to have a boyfriend who needs a sex change. Al Pacino (Sonny) gives a brilliant performance as the brains behind the robbery, whereas John Cazale (Sal) is simply the grunt in the situation and has barely anything to say except when he's conferring with Sunny. There are a lot of unmemorable performances from the smaller character's in the picture as well (it jumps from one cop to another in charge), and of course a cringeworthily one by the tranny or whatever you want to call it. I'll even go so far to say the dialogue isn't that impressive either, I don't care how original it is, only a few jokes work and most of the dialogue is fairly forgettable.Though so far I seem negative, I actually liked Dog Day Afternoon in a sense, and think its good entertainment, even if it never becomes anything else. Sidney Lumet's direction is effective and I like how he uses tension rather than countless shootouts, I also admired some truly impressive scenes such as when Pacino yells "ATTICA" several times to get the crowd to applause. On the other hand the pace feels sluggish in the second half and the ending is far from satisfying, as it's predictable, simple and disappointing. In my opinion it's simple Oscar bait that only works as a one-time viewing, take out the Homosexuality and Sex change nonsense and all you have is two men in a bank robbery gone wrong; All in all its competently made in the entertainment aspect, but it's certainly no classic.