Dog Day Afternoon (1975)

• Year: 1975
• Released: 25 Dec 1975
• Country: United States
• Adwords: Won 1 Oscar. 14 wins & 21 nominations total
• IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0072890/
• Rotten Tomatoes: https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/dog_day_afternoon
• Metacritics: https://www.metacritic.com/movie/dog-day-afternoon
• Available in: 720p, 1080p,
• Language: English
• MPA Rating: R
• Genre: Biography, Crime, Drama
• Runtime: 125 min
• Writer: Frank Pierson, P.F. Kluge, Thomas Moore
• Director: Sidney Lumet
• Cast: Al Pacino, John Cazale, Penelope Allen
• Keywords: new york city, police, fbi, heist, hostage,

	8.0/10
	86/100
	96% – Critics
	90% – Audience

Dog Day Afternoon Storyline

At the end of the banking day on August 22, 1972, Sonny, Sal and Stevie enter a small branch of the First Brooklyn Savings Bank. After all the customers have left and the bank is about to close, they proceed to rob it at gunpoint. But the robbery does not go according to Sonny’s plan. There is little cash as the money has been picked up for the day. Stevie abandons the plan and flees. A standoff ensues between the robbers (locked inside with ten hostages, the male bank manager, the male security guard, and eight female tellers and clerks) and the police, the media, and a hoard of onlookers outside. Sonny and the far less exhibitionistic but seemingly even more unstable Sal have a suicide pact if things go wrong but Sonny tries to negotiate a way out, realizing the hostages are the duo’s only leverage. As Sonny deals with the authorities – primarily “good cop”, NYPD Captain Moretti, who tries to give Sonny whatever he wants, and “bad cop” Sheldon, an FBI agent who plays hardball with Sonny, the public (watching the interactions and hearing news reports) has mixed feelings about what Sonny is doing. Some, especially a contingent of the activist gay community (who later turn out to support Sonny in person) are sympathetic. As the situation turns into a circus both inside and outside the bank, emotions are ratcheted up a notch when Sonny’s “second wife”, Leon, is brought to the scene from a hospital following a suicide attempt by drug overdose. Leon is able to shed some light on why Sonny needs the money but initially refuses to speak by phone with Sonny, whom Leon describes as “crazy”. Later, Sonny and Leon have, by turns acrimoniously and affectionately, a phone call, mostly acrimonious in that Leon rebukes Sonny for his actions, tells him they will not be travelling together [to Algeria, which Sonny has decided will be his escape destination), and blames Sonny for the cops thinking he [Leon] is an accessory. Soon after, Sonny calls his legal wife, with whom he has two children, and the reasons for that marriage’s failure become evident. Sal is upset because the news reports have referred to the robbers as “two homosexuals”. As long day turns to night, the standoff continues until the inevitable bloody (but minimally so) resolution. The audience learns, among other things, before the credits roll, that Leon (not the real life individual’s name) did have the sexual reassignment surgery.

Dog Day Afternoon Play trailer

Dog Day Afternoon Photos

Dog Day Afternoon Torrents Download

Dog Day Afternoon Subtitles Download

Dog Day Afternoon Movie Reviews

Al Pacino is brilliant

‘Dog Day Afternoon’ tells the true story of Sonny (Al Pacino) and Sal (John Cazale). These two guys went into a bank in 1972 in Brooklyn to rob it. They could have been out in five minuted but things went terribly wrong. Instead of a robbery it became a hostage situation. And a media circus as well.

From the first second you will be totally in the movie. Afterwards I wanted to write my review and I was not able to remember how the music was, if there was any. It says something about how much the movie grabs you. The first part is very funny, I laughed a lot of times. The second part is more a drama and a thriller. Great director Sidney Lumet creates a certain atmosphere for the movie that is just right. Pacino in one of his best performances is surrounded by a great supporting cast. He was nominated for an Oscar but didn’t win it. He lost it to a guy named Jack Nicholson in a movie called ‘One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest’. The chances were probably fifty-fifty and the Oscar went to the better movie, I have to admit that. Still, one of the best performances I have ever seen. With any other actor this movie was a nice one, with him it is a great one.

Very gritty and realistic

I think that this film is a bit overrated (I would never place this within the top 250 films ever made and I know it is a critical favorite), though it still is a very good film. That’s because it gives such a gritty and realistic portrait of a bank robbery gone bad and is totally unlike any cops and robbers film made before or sense. Part of this gritty realism is the amazingly “colorful” dialog. You’d never expect to hear this many f-words used in a film back in 1975. I didn’t love this, but understand that real criminals in such a situation would probably not worry about offending people with their use of expletives–so I can’t fault this either.

While I often give longer reviews, there are frankly so many good reviews for this film already as well as synopses of the film–so I won’t bore you with these details. Instead, I will point out that this largely improvised film worked well due to excellent direction and acting. I have no complaints at all but also didn’t see the film as THAT exceptional. Sure, it was a very, very good film but not one that I would put in the category of MUST SEE.

If you haven’t guessed, this is NOT a movie for kids but for mature adults who can handle the subject matter and aren’t turned off by the realism, then it’s an excellent and worthwhile film.

Another one of Pacino’s best(and one of Lumet’s best)

Dog Day Afternoon had all the ingredients for at least a great movie. There’s Al Pacino, a wonderful actor who has given some fine performances, and there’s also Sidney Lumet, who directed 12 Angry Men and Network, which are brilliant movies. Dog Day Afternoon lived up to that and more, almost certainly one of the best heist movies out there. The script is excellent, the story is compelling even with some slow spots which I actually didn’t mind and Lumet’s direction is superb.

The cinematography and editing are also top drawer and the sound is just great. I have little to criticise the acting about either, Al Pacino gives yet another wonderful performance that is also quite multi-layered, while John Cazale and Charles Dunning give fine support.

All in all, an excellent film and some of the best work of a fine director and actor. 10/10 Bethany Cox