Dog Day Afternoon [Blu-ray] (1975) Review
Dog Day Afternoon is a gripping true crime movie, one of the best movies of all time. DDA is a juicy piece of overheated New York mood, and a fabulous showcase for its youthful actors. Dog Day Afternoon is a underrated masterpiece of the 1970s. The opening montage of Brooklyn, New York street life circa 1972 establishes the muggy tone of a sizzling afternoon in the city with such closeness that you can almost smell the junk baking in the sun and the water from the hydrants evaporating from the sizzling pavement. Al Pacino plays Sonny, who, along with his noticeably slow-witted accomplice Sal (John Cazale, familiar as Pacino’s Godfather brother Fredo), holds hostages after a botched a bank robbery.
Sonny and Sal are not master-planners; in fact they are amateurs. It’s like a Saturday Night Live skit but it is dark, realistic humor, not slapstick.
Sonny finds himself altered into a dissenter celebrity when his standoff with police (including lead negotiator Charles Durning) is covered live on local television. This has the famous “ATTICA! ATTICA!” scene which is still powerful in 2009. The movie really conveys the feel of rough and unpredictable events unfolding before your eyes, and the whole film is so convincing and involving that you’re glued to the screen.
The film was based on a true story that was published in LIFE Magazine. I can’t say enough how great the movie is- most of it takes place in the bank; the plot is straightforward enough although there are major revelations that come on later.
New Yorkers really hated cops and establishment in the 1970’s and this movie showcases that hatred.
5/5 stars. Adults only. Unquestionably one of the best movies of all time.
Dog Day Afternoon [Blu-ray]
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