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Dog Day Afternoon (1975)

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Movie review

From Time Out Film Guide

At first sight, a film with large, self-conscious ambitions where a bank siege (the film is based on a real incident that occurred in the summer of '72) seems a metaphor for Attica and other scenes of American overkill and victimisation. But it turns into something smaller and less pretentious: a richly detailed, meandering portrait of an incompetent, anxiety-ridden, homosexual bank robber (played with ferocious and self-destructive energy by Pacino) who wants money to finance a sex-change operation for his lover. The film's strength lies in its depiction of surfaces, lacking the visual or intellectual imagination to go beyond its shrewd social and psychological observations and its moments of absurdist humour.

Author: LQ

Time Out Film Guide

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User reviews of this film

Marsellus said...

Posted on Aug 08 2011 11:25 I think the review above is a little harsh on what is a great film featuring one of the best ever performances from Al Pacino. In a time when a person's civil rights were violated because of their sexuality, this film was released and widely acclaimed by all. Dog Day Afternoon is a landmark in the history of film. It was the product of a group of artists who had something meaningul to say. It was the product of a film industry that cared more about artistic integrity than profit.

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