Dog day afternoon

Year of release : 1975

Run time : 2h5m

Genre : Crime / Drama / Biographical

Cast : Al Pacino

The movie is based on the Life magazine article "The boys in the bank" by P. F. Kluge and Thomas Moore, about the 1972 robbery and hostage situation at the Chase Manhattan Bank at the hands of John Wojtowicz and Salvatore Naturile. The movie even spawned a book, by author Leslie Warren.

It's the 2nd of August 1972, and Sonny Wortzik with his two friends, Stevie and Sal, enter a bank, planning to r0b it.

Stevie gets cold feet when he aims a g@n at people and tells Sonny he's out, giving him his gun.

When trying to get the cash, they only find 1.100 dollars, as the daily cash pickup came before they arrived.

Sonny decides to take the bank's traveler's checks, having the amazing idea of burning the register in a trash can, the smoke going out the small airing system window, worrying one of the people outside, who calls the police.

The police come, the detective sergeant on the case assures him he can work with him, while Sonny and Sal take the 8 women and the two men working there as hostages, and Sal tells Sonny he's ready to drop bodies, if necessary.

The security guard has an asthma attack, and Sonny decides to release him as a sign of good faith.

As the police are trying to negotiate with the robbers, something weird happens, as the people inside, the women, start siding with Sonny, against the police, the same thing happening with the people outside!

It's revealed the reason Sonny wanted to r0b the bank was to pay for reassignment surgery for one of his wives ( they say he is married to a gay man, but also that he's married to a woman he has 2 kids with) and although he talked to Sal to k1ll themselves if they can't get out clean, he plans a getaway, asking the police for transportation to the airport, and a plane to take them and the hostages to Algeria!

 

The movie personally bored me. I almost thought it was a comedy due to the ridiculousness of the situations.

The acting was fine. Thinking of it, everybody was good, nobody particularly stood out. The actors playing the hostages were good, acted scared, when needed, looked exhausted and sweaty.

Lance Henriksen has a minor role, he is almost a cameo, until the last 10 minutes of the movie.

The movie received positive reviews, being nominated for 6 BAFTAs (winning 2, for Best Actor, for Al Pacino, and Best Editing), 7 Golden Globes and 6 Oscars (including Best Picture), winning the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay. In 2009 the movie was selected for preservation by the Library of Congress in the National Film Registry.

The movie was a box office success, grossing close to 56 million dollars against a budget of around 3.8 million.

Rating : Could have been a contender !