This was another excellent film.
Apparently based on a true story, Sonny Wortzik (Al Pacino) and his pal of unknown origin, Sal (John Cazale) set out to rob a bank and boy are they unprepared. Their third accomplice chickens out nearly immediately and the vast amount of funds were already collected so the bank hardly has any money and Sonny needs it so his new 'wife', Leon (a brilliant Chris Sarandon) can get that sex change operation he was told he should want, though it appears he may actually want it.
While the concept is simple, it is a superb film, complete with several twists and turns, including the reveal of Leon, and there is always the suspense of anyone could die at any time. And Sonny is constantly just pulling at threads, just trying to live the life he wants, and he needs money to do it. A TV reporter even asks him why he can't just get a job and Sonny acts like he could work, then he would.
Now, there are a few problems, the main one is, how in the world do the cops figure out the bank is being robbed? (I suspect the third accomplice who left at the beginning.) Still, something needed to happen as they were clearly amateurs, and it made for good film making. Sidney Lumet delivers another excellent film, as this one is great, start to finish, with effortless performances and gritty feel makes you feel like you're transported back to August 1972, Brooklyn, New York, watching a bank being robbed. Grade: A
Side Notes:
-The funniest scene is when Sonny asks for and receives some pizza to feed the hostages and tries to pay for it with the stolen money.
-Sonny doesn't want to hurt anyone because he's a Catholic.
-Charles Durning is great as the first, most sympathetic cop.
-Sonny's female wife, Angie (Susan Peretz) is particularly annoying and Sonny gets frustrated with her very quickly.
No comments:
Post a Comment