(Sidney Lumet, US 1975, 125 min.)

True Crime. Based on a real-life incident, Sidney Lumet’s masterpiece kicks off with a bungled robbery at a Brooklyn bank that is among the best heists on film. The real drama, however, comes as the nervous ringleader (a peak Al Pacino) attempts to negotiate his way out of a hostage situation that (anticipating Lumet’s next film, Network) quickly devolves into a media circus. Over the next few hours, he manages to become something of an anti-hero — a mouthpiece for a bruised and battered generation that can no longer articulate its wants or needs.

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