I have not seen so much of these type of movies but I think _Dog Day Afternoon_ is a representative that coming back from Vietnam as a veteran was a very hard life situation.
As in the _Taxi Driver_ Sonny and Sal couldn't cope with the burden to reintegrate to the society and take a decent profession. Okay, at least _Travis Bickle_ tried this, just failed, but that's just a side note.
However, Sonny and Sal have thought as their only chance to live after the war an honourable life in America to rob a bank. Sonny who was the smarter one, has not panicked after the realization that they couldn't become wealthy from the cash in the vault. He knew their only chance not to face repercussions is to elope from the country. They only kept hostages and made themselves as prisoners for their own good and the hope of their freedom. It's so exciting and tense to see if they succeeded and manage to escape from the country or their other plan also fails.
I also haven't seen so much _Al Pacino_ movies, but in my mind his characters are adjacently mad and assertive figures and here he is just an ordinary man whose life went awry in the war. I need to mention the bank manager and his don't give a crap attitude which was fun to watch.

Recently I have gotten on kicks for both watching and appreciating the works of director Sidney Lumet and the classic (i.e., 70's) performances of Al Pacino. Thus I came across this film, which I had on DVD forever. It'll interesting to watch the recent documentary on the character Pacino portrays, 'The Dog'--just found out about it earlier today. I loved Lumet's films he made before this that I've seen--'12 Angry Men', 'The Fugitive Kind', 'The Hill', 'The Anderson Tapes' and 'Murder on the Orient Express'--and he's superb at getting the gradual self-destruction of his characters that just seethes through the screen.

At this point, Pacino could do no wrong in his work--he had that firm grasp on his immense talent and just what he needed from it to do remarkable work, some of the finest characterizations in contemporary cinema. Do both he and yourself a favour and don't bother with anything he's made since 'Heat'.

“Kiss me. When I'm being f**ked, I like to get kissed a lot.”

Dog Day Afternoon is a fantastic 'bank robbery gone wrong' movie, but becomes so much more than that.

I’ve been planning on watching this movie for awhile, but failed each time. Now it makes me appreciate my patience after finally checking it out at LIFF (Leeds International Film Festival). Seeing this on a big screen rather than a small one made the experience even more special.

The run time of two hours and 30 minutes, which is crazy because none of it dragged. I loved every minute of it. I was surprised how comedic it is, as I originally expected it to be a crime drama. It's hilarious seeing the hostages who were scared at first, but eventually got so comfortable around the robbers, they toy with their semi-auto rimfire rifles. Even ordering pizza and sodas, and Sonny (Pacino) pays for it with bank money.

Al Pacino is one of the all time greats. His voice, facial tics, walk, hunch, accent, etc. There’s so much to pick up on his performance. He’s better than sex. John Cazale is a national treasure and left us way too soon. The chemistry between Sonny and Sal is dynamic. Sidney Lumet directing captives the entire event and makes it absolutely gripping, especially the climax which had me on edge.

Pacino is fire. Cazale is holy. Sidney is god.