Dog Day Afternoon
Academy Award × 1·National Film Registry
Rent/Purchase
Based on the true story of would-be Brooklyn bank robbers John Wojtowicz and Salvatore Naturile. Sonny and Sal attempt a bank heist which quickly turns sour and escalates into a hostage situation and stand-off with the police. As Sonny's motives for the robbery are slowly revealed and things become more complicated, the heist turns into a media circus.
What critics thought
Broadly celebrated on release and only more admired since, Dog Day Afternoon was praised for Pacino's live-wire central performance, Lumet's kinetic direction, and a script that somehow balances slapstick, tragedy, and political provocation. The few dissenting notes focused not on quality but on whether the film's sympathy for its criminal protagonist crossed a line — one prominent critic cautioned that 'making heroes out of felons' carried real moral risk even as he acknowledged the film's power.
“two wounded creatures capable of an extraordinary emotional audacity”
Andrew Sarris·The Village Voice
“Though the farcical tone of the movie is blusterous, falling into the common show-biz habit of supplying energy in place of intent, the movie succeeds, on the whole, because it has the crucial farcical value of not faltering.”
Penelope Gilliatt·The New Yorker
“a triumphant new classic of American movie naturalism”
Gary Arnold·The Washington Post
“scenes mixing the fear of violence with insane laughter”
Gene Siskel·Chicago Tribune
Genres
Biography, Crime, Drama
Cast & Crew
DirectorSidney Lumet
StarringAl Pacino, John Cazale, Charles Durning, Chris Sarandon, James Broderick
Dog Day Afternoon
Academy Award × 1·National Film Registry
Based on the true story of would-be Brooklyn bank robbers John Wojtowicz and Salvatore Naturile. Sonny and Sal attempt a bank heist which quickly turns sour and escalates into a hostage situation and stand-off with the police. As Sonny's motives for the robbery are slowly revealed and things become more complicated, the heist turns into a media circus.
What critics thought
Broadly celebrated on release and only more admired since, Dog Day Afternoon was praised for Pacino's live-wire central performance, Lumet's kinetic direction, and a script that somehow balances slapstick, tragedy, and political provocation. The few dissenting notes focused not on quality but on whether the film's sympathy for its criminal protagonist crossed a line — one prominent critic cautioned that 'making heroes out of felons' carried real moral risk even as he acknowledged the film's power.
“two wounded creatures capable of an extraordinary emotional audacity”
Andrew Sarris·The Village Voice
“Though the farcical tone of the movie is blusterous, falling into the common show-biz habit of supplying energy in place of intent, the movie succeeds, on the whole, because it has the crucial farcical value of not faltering.”
Penelope Gilliatt·The New Yorker
“a triumphant new classic of American movie naturalism”
Gary Arnold·The Washington Post
“scenes mixing the fear of violence with insane laughter”
Gene Siskel·Chicago Tribune
Genres
Biography, Crime, Drama
Cast & Crew
DirectorSidney Lumet
StarringAl Pacino, John Cazale, Charles Durning, Chris Sarandon, James Broderick
Rent/Purchase