Film Forum

U.S., 1975
Directed by Sidney Lumet
Screenplay by Sidney Lumet, Frank Pierson
Starring John Cazale, Al Pacino, Chris Sarandon, Charles Durning
WINNER Academy Awards® – Best Original Screenplay (Frank Pierson), 1976
Approx. 124 min. 4K DCP.

As a scorcher unravels from day to night in Brooklyn, the motive for Al Pacino’s botched bank robbery/hostage taking is revealed to be the funding of his wife’s gender-affirming surgery. Lumet’s ultimate exercise in realism, with 60% of the dialogue improvised — including Pacino’s phone call to his wife, shot in a single, 15-minute take. Nominated for six Academy Awards®, including Best Picture.

Reviews

“Cazale’s third film with Pacino and the one where he pushed past ordinary humdrum brilliance and made it all the way to perfection.”
– Jackson Arn, The New Yorker

“One of the best ‘New York’ movies ever made.”
– Pauline Kael

“[Cazale's] twinkling anguish is crucial to the film’s harrowing tone.”
– Ed Power, The Telegraph

“I've never seen an actor convey more pathos or act with less vanity than Cazale as Sal (except maybe, of course, Cazale as Fredo).”
– Chris Game, Backstage

“Sidney Lumet is a master filmmaker. Here he has created a film made brilliant by its deeply seen characters, in a plot that could have obviously been cheapened and exploited but is always human and true.”
– Roger Ebert

“An astonishing fusion of suspense and character, powered by superior ensemble acting.”
– Jonathan Rosenbaum

“The most accurate, most flamboyant of Lumet’s New York movies.”
– Vincent Canby, The New York Times