Al Pacino turns in a tour-de-force performance as a family man who plans a Brooklyn bank robbery to pay for his gay lover's sex-change operation. Pacino plays John "Sonny" Wortzik, and the film is based on a real-life story. The heist goes horribly wrong, placing Wortzik in a highly publicized situation that makes him a media hero. With his partner Salvatore "Sal" Naturile (John Cazale), he holds the employees of a Brooklyn bank hostage the day after his pre-operative transgendered lover was committed to a psychiatric hospital following a suicide attempt. Detective Eugene Moretti (Charles Durning) calls the bank to tell Sonny that the police have arrived. Sonny warns that he and Sal will kill the hostages if anyone tries to come into the bank. After realizing they cannot make a getaway, Sonny demands transportation: a jet to take them out of the country. His male "wife" Leon Schermer (Chris Sarandon) arrives and reveals that Sonny is robbing the bank to pay for Leon's sex change surgery and that he also has a legal wife, Angie, and children. After more attempts to have Sonny surrender, he is taken in a limousine to the airport. Sal is killed, Sonny is arrested, and the film ends with Sonny watching Sal's body being taken from the limo on a stretcher.
Based on the events of a real bank robbery that took place on August 22, 1972, this film was inspired by P.F. Kluge's article "The Boys in the Bank", which tells a similar story of the robbery of a Brooklyn bank by John Wojtowicz and Salvatore Naturile. The title refers to the "dog days of summer". Sidney Lumet directed.
Based on the events of a real bank robbery that took place on August 22, 1972, this film was inspired by P.F. Kluge's article "The Boys in the Bank", which tells a similar story of the robbery of a Brooklyn bank by John Wojtowicz and Salvatore Naturile. The title refers to the "dog days of summer". Sidney Lumet directed.
