Dog Day Afternoon (1975)

Sidney Lumet passed away in April this year and therefore one of the great directors of our time.
His first feature film "12 angry men" earned him worldwide acclaim and, among two others, an oscar nomination for 'Best Director'. This film, with its most essential plot, is a truly great movie but only one among many other of Lumet's masterful pieces such as "Serpico", "Network" or his last one "Before the devil knows you're dead", made in 2007.
Many of his films deal with similar themes. Law and justice, corruption, power, the media ...

"Dog day afternoon" is no different, be it themes or quality.

It is based on the true story of a bank robbery that happened in August 1972 in Brooklyn, New York.
Just like in "12 angry men" it may be the hottest day of the year when the three offenders enter the Chase Manhatten Bank.
But our protagonists might not be sweating because of the wheather but because of nervousness.
It's obvious that they are no professionals to say the least. One of them can't stand the pressure and leaves only few moments after they started their coup. Now it's up to Sonny and Sal to finish the job.
Sonny, played by a strong Al Pacino, is the head and leader of the robbers and the story. He is determined man who knows about life and rough times and gives the commands but is not the smartest guy either.

His partner (John Cazale) is the opposite. Quiet, nervous, dull and unpredictable. A ticking time bomb that could go off at any second. His sheer presence creates a tension throughout the film.
Gladly there is no "hero" working in the bank, everyone is cooperating. But anyway nothing will work out as the robbers want to and soon they are surrounded by police squads and of course a huge crowd of curious people.

The employees realize that the hostage-takers have no control of the situation. "Did you even plan this?", they ask them. Some of them are even amused by the fact that they get all the attention of the media. The reporters are obviously happy to have a good story to tell about.
The robbery eventually turns into a spectacle when the negotiation between Sonny and agent Moretti (Charles Durning) begins. He soon has to realize that they are trapped and that it will be very, very hard to get out of this situation again. What the hell was he just thinking?

The movie is occasionally very funny, but it's not a comedy.
While especially the cops stay rather uninteresting at least the important characters are sharply drawn. We find out a lot about Sonny's background and motivation as the film progesses. Especially when his "wife" appears on the scene this adds more depth and a new perspective to the events.

However, in its second half the movie takes a little too much time to get to the end. Also the ending itself is kind of unsatisfying dramatically as all the suspense that was built up previously is kind of all of a sudden blowing out - though it is the right and realistic conclusion.

What sets the film apart from lesser heist movies is that we deal with the characters not only on the surface but stay with them and explore their intentions. They are not just after the money because they are the criminals. These are real, ordinary people whose actions may not be right but (at least to some degree) comprehensible. They are no bank robbers but desperate people who thoughtlessly try to find a solution to their problems in all the wrong places and fail completely.

It may have been the biggest mistake of their lives.