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 (1)
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)
(more)Videos (1)
Reviews (11)
I promise will never complain about my bad luck again... Sidney Lumet made a perfect crime drama about one not exactly ordinary bank robbery, that in certain moments is more like a comedy. The role of Sonny Wortzik is one of Al Pacino’s greatest creations ever. He gives a perfect performance of an absolute wreck desperately trying to get the situation under control. John Cazale as Sal is pleasantly inconspicuous and for the whole time it’s apparent that he is consumed by fear. And it seems that the guy at the end in the minibus truly was Lance Henriksen. The screenplay is flawless and goes to show that even such a classic plot like a bank robbery can be turned into something so “different".
()
An instruction video about how never under any circumstances to proceed during a bank robbery. Al Pacino excels in the main role, demonstrating all typical beginner’s mistakes. Mainly by completely outshining all the others with his performance. Which, in view of how interesting most characters are, is rather a shame; twice as much with respect to Cazale’s role.
()
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.
()
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.
()
Pacino turns in a great performance in a heist movie with a banal plot. Or am I, as a viewer, supposed to be thrilled by the twist when a young man in a bathrobe appears on the scene as his wife, for whose sex change Pacino is doing all of this? His real wife and especially his mother just complete the bizarre circle of characters that make this an unintentional comedy. The depiction of Brooklyn and the situation in the US at the time is praiseworthy, but as a human drama, this classic didn't impress me.
()
Ads