Film Screening — Dog Day Afternoon

"[Al] Pacino gives one of his greatest performances as desperate crook Sonny Wortzik in Lumet’s epochal New York crime drama, based on the bizarre true story of a 1972 bank robbery staged blocks from the movie’s Brooklyn location. An anti-establishment thriller that perfectly captures the anarchy of 1970s New York, the film is remembered primarily for Pacino’s increasingly unhinged work, but the actor is given crucial support from the always poignant Cazale, whose slow-burn turn as Sonny’s unpredictable accomplice, 'Sal' Naturile, is a highlight of the underappreciated actor’s legendary run through 1970s American cinema." -- Museum of the Moving Image (MoMI)

-- Pacino’s performance as Sonny Wortzik, an unemployed Vietnam veteran, earned him his fourth Oscar nomination in consecutive years and the Best Actor award.

"One of the best 'New York' movies ever made." -- Pauline Kael, The New Yorker

"By turns manically funny, slyly terrifying and strangely provocative, it somehow reaches beyond its format to make startling comment on the rampant panic of contemporary life." -- Kevin Kelly, Boston Globe

"It's beautifully acted by performers who appear to have grown up on the city's sidewalks in the heat and hopelessness of an endless midsummer." -- Vincent Canby, New York Times