"ATTICA! ATTICA! ATTICA!"

August 22, 1972. Brooklyn, New York. Sonny and Sal walk into the First Brooklyn Savings Bank and attempt an armed robbery. The plan immediately goes awry, and soon they are completely surrounded by police, media, and curious bystanders looking to cheer the underdogs on.

Based on a true story, Sidney Lumet's Dog Day Afternoon begins as a farcical comedy, as Sonny and Sal bumble their way through the mess they've created while hostage negotiator Eugene Moretti frantically screams at everyone in sight in an attempt to keep order. Shot at breakneck speed and reportedly finishing three weeks ahead of schedule, the film feels like a time bomb ready to explode, capturing New York's energetic vitality despite taking place almost entirely within a single location. Much of this can be attributed to Al Pacino's electrifying performance, tearing up the screen as the simultaneously volatile and vulnerable Sonny in a performance for the ages. The film gradually reveals a deeper sensitivity and a growing sense of tragedy when the motivations behind the attempted robbery come to light and clinical police procedure takes hold, transforming what began as a hilarious comedy of errors into a melancholy portrait of people caught in circumstances beyond their control.