On D List of Movie Reviews

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Dog Day Afternoon (1975)

Rate: 10
Viewed: 7/05, 6/07, 7/18

DogDay
7/05: Al Pacino is stunning in Dog Day Afternoon.

I love the ending which sends a message to Sonny that this shit is real and that stupid actions have consequences.

All in all, Dog Day Afternoon is among the greatest movies made.

6/07: In the test against time, Dog Day Afternoon has lost some luster and doesn't have many surprises.

Al Pacino's mesmerizing performance marks the final of his four straight Oscar nominations during the 70's. He playing a homosexual character is the only aspect that's hard to believe.

For John Cazale, it's one of the five pictures (all were nominated for Best Picture and three were selected which must be a record) he was part of during his lifetime before his untimely death from lung cancer. Charles Durning is phenomenal, but his role is too brief. Chris Sarandon scores a deserving Oscar nomination as the cross-dressing lover.

All in all, Dog Day Afternoon is a gem.

7/18: Here's a classic of the bank robbery genre: Dog Day Afternoon.

For the final Oscar nomination of four straight during the 70's, Al Pacino turns in the greatest performance of his career as Sonny Wortzik (actual name was John Wojtowicz). Take a look at any actor of today, and you'll realize quickly all can't capture the emotions as felt by Al Pacino for somebody who's committed the first bank robbery of his life.

Although the true purpose of the bank robbery was to fund a sex change operation for Wojtowicz's gay lover, it was also rumored to pay off his debt to Mafia loan sharks for the wedding. After Wojtowicz sold his rights to the story that led to the filming of Dog Day Afternoon, it's when he finally got the money to pay for the operation.

Although many performances are fantastic, it's Chris Sarandon who stands out the most. As a reward, he was Oscar-nominated. By the way, the top FBI man is Matthew Broderick's father, and the 12-year-old son was occasionally taken to the film set and met Al Pacino. Who knew he would be the future Ferris Bueller?

All in all, Dog Day Afternoon is everything anyone can ask for a human drama picture.