5. Sonny & Sal - Dog Day Afternoon
Sidney Lumet appears again with his sublime crime drama Dog Day Afternoon, which revolves around two men, Sonny (Al Pacino) and Sal (the late John Cazale), who hold up a bank and soon enough invite a massive media scrum around their presence. However, the twist is that the pair aren't stealing the money out of sheer greed, it's because Sonny wants the money so that his male partner can have a sex change operation. Where does the plan get idiotic? Well... The duo hadn't done their research, because the bank had cleaned out most of its cash supply before they even showed up. Realising he has to do
something, Sonny then desperately negotiates with the police for a way out of his situation, namely a safe passage out of the U.S. However, in the end, Sal ends up shot dead by the police, and Sonny is arrested, bringing the film to a shocking and abrupt - yet realistic - close.