LUMET IS IN HIS ELEMENT WITH THIS CONTEMPORARY TRUE STORY OF HUMAN FOLLY, MEDIA MADNESS AND LAW-ENFORCEMENT OVERKILL.
A bank robbery (to finance a sex-change operation) goes awry. The police, the media, the public and even the FBI descend; the thieves revel precariously in their new-found notoriety. Amidst the mayhem, the robbery mastermind (Al Pacino) phones his lover (Chris Sarandon) to explain what he has done and Lumet unexpectedly delivers the best love scene in his entire oeuvre.
The idea behind the film, Lumet said, was that ‘freaks are not the freaks we think they are. We are much more connected to the most outrageous behaviour than we know or admit.’ Wearing neither his heart nor his art on his sleeve, he allows the humanity of people on society’s margins to surface in all its tragic-comic splendour. This is perhaps his most wholly satisfying movie, wittily written, fabulously acted.Group tickets are available directly from the IFI Box Office on (01) 679 3477
5 Lumet films for €30
7 Lumet films for €40 (Full Pass)
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