Sirius Rising: Dog Day Afternoon (1975)

A true high point of the New Hollywood era gets the Kael Your Idols treatment this episode: Sidney Lumet’s Dog Day Afternoon. We attempt to get to the bottom of this true tale of a robbery-gone-wrong by putting together the character’s complex motivations piece by piece. Along the way we manage to show some love to Pacino, who puts in probably his best performance, and of course the legendary John Cazale as well. Other topics include: early portrayals of gay activism, Lumet’s book ‘Making Movies’, and Johnny Wojtowicz: the larger-than-life figure at the center of the actual event.