Dog Day Afternoon - 6

This film is based on a true story of a bank robbery in NYC in August 1972 (The film came out in '75). It deals a lot with the media, and how this shaped the story. It eventually comes out that one of the bank robber's, Sonny (played excellently by Al Pacino), main motivations for getting money is for his lover to get a sex change. The view of homosexuality in this film very different, it is seen as a fact in this film, rather than a point of controversy as it would be today. Sonny becomes a hero because of his reference to the killings that occurred at Attica State Prison during a hostage situation. While still a heist film, it does not stick to the usual formula. Guns are used very sparingly and there isn't some trick ending. It is a very honest film (once again the truth is stranger than fiction, or at least makes a better film). Well worth watching 30 years later.