Directed by:
Sidney LumetScreenplay:
Frank R. PiersonCinematography:
Victor J. KemperCast:
Al Pacino, John Cazale, James Broderick, Carol Kane, Charles Durning, Lance Henriksen, Dominic Chianese, Chris Sarandon, Robert Costanzo, Tom Towles (more)VOD (4)
Plots(1)
Pacino is heartbreakingly real as Sonny, a smart yet self-destructive Brooklyn tough whose plan to rob the local bank to fund his male lover's (Chris Sarandon) sex change goes absurdly wrong. Accompanied only by his doltish accomplice, Sal (John Cazale), Sonny realizes that all the money had been removed before his arrival, and decides to kidnap a handful of bank employees instead. As the lengthy August day drags on, Sonny and hordes of local police, led by Sergeant Moretti (Charles Durning), make little progress, and eventually Sonny's wife and lover are brought to the scene. (official distributor synopsis)
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Reviews (11)
Sometimes everything goes wrong even before anything starts. How many times has a bank robbery been portrayed in a movie? No one can count the number of times. And is it possible, after all those attempts, to see it in a way that you won't even breathe from the suspense? Definitely – Sidney Lumet managed to turn the charismatic and demonic Al Pacino into an innocent looking boy, whose nerves can snap at any moment, and turned a bank robbery into a two-hour realistic spectacle, where the first gunshot almost halfway through the movie still scared me. An incredible spectacle, specific scenes of which Joel Schumacher probably watched over and over while shooting Phone Booth.
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Al Pacino delivers yet another one of his incredible performances, under the direction of Sidney Lumet, who presents a film that could initially be seen as a comedy, but which has such a gradual escalation that you realize this can't end well, even though you might find yourself rooting for the anti-hero. Just like the others.
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Nowadays it's flat, but in its day it was a very conscious social satire in an unapologetically attractive take on bank robbery. It's incredible how films have swelled and got incredibly big inwardly over the past few decades. Here, the would-be subtle digressions into gay sexuality and political shenanigans are so blatant and simple in hindsight that it doesn't quite hold the viewer's attention, and when they do it is with a considerable smirk. Sidney Lumet can't be denied a certain authenticity and, more importantly, an effort to make everything fit together perfectly. One thing, however, hasn't changed at all in all that time until today: Al Pacino's acting.
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Definitely one of the best bank robbery movies. Not only the drama and the game about the lives of the hostages and the two criminals, but also a bit of a portrait of the times (with allusions to the unlimited power of unions in the States at the time, the power of the media, the Attica massacre and the then despised homosexuality). A de-facto reconstruction of a real case, where it turns out that the best stories are written by life itself – in the first half there are many twists and turns and absurd situations, and with the arrival of the FBI agent, a psychological struggle begins, where you can cut the tension and the whole thing is watched in one breath. The young Al Pacino was already phenomenal at the time, and the master of supporting roles John Cazale with his unreadable expression ably seconded him. Sidney Lumet made several gems, this is one of them, and along with the likes of Arthur Penn, he is one of the most underrated filmmakers of the 1960s and 70s in my eyes.
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You’ve just taken the money and suddenly a hundred police officers show up, it's hard to imagine a bigger setback when robbing a bank. Sidney Lumet uses this intriguing idea in the best possible way, collaborating with a stellar Al Pacino to create a thrilling and compelling story whose only drawback was that it was made in the same year as Forman's One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. Otherwise, in addition to the Oscar for the screenplay, there would surely be an award for the director and also for Pacino, who gives a performance of a lifetime that makes you believe in him. Although it explores a theme used mostly in action films, there are only three shots in the entire film. That, however, doesn't detract from its quality or pace; on the contrary, it leaves even more space for the psychologically demanding situation in which everyone involved – hostages, perpetrators or police officers – find themselves. The whole thing is excellently shot, the atmosphere of the 70s is very much felt, full of discrimination and political affairs, and the viewer is tense until the end – will the robbers be caught or will they be killed?
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