Actors: Al Pacino, John Cazale
Director: Sidney Lumet
Note: Very Minor Spoilers
A friend of mine, confronted in a philosophy class about what he was trying to say about a dense political treatise, stammered out, 'Well, it's about love.' If put on the spot about Dog Day Afternoon, I'd say the same, despite many appearances to the contrary. A bank heist turns into an examination of the robbers - about what and who they value most.
Al Pacino's tendency towards over-the-top hamminess plays perfectly here, and Lumet knows exactly when to dial him down to low intensity. He also knows when to ratchet up the tension and when to ease it - only tiresome, superfluous commentary about television keeps this from being a 5-star film.
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One of my favorite pieces of trivia: Every feature film John Cazale acted in was nominated for the Best Picture Academy Award.
ReplyDeleteAmazingly, I think Dog Day Afternoon was his worst movie (not counting Godfather III since he only appeared in archive footage).
yeah, it's a real shame that cazale died so young, although at least it kept him from being in terrible movies. also happened to catch his monologue in godfather 2 on TV yesterday, great stuff.
ReplyDeletei still haven't seen 'the conversation' but it's on my queue.
'the conversation' is very good. maybe i just have a soft spot for hot, crowded, everything's-going-to-hell 70s new york films (by which i guess i mean, sidney lumet), but i like dog day afternoon better.
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