The reviews are uniformly positive, with praise centred on Al Pacino’s volatile, anxious Sonny and Sidney Lumet’s handling of a bank robbery going badly wrong. Most critics find a sympathetic character study within the siege, crediting the performances and direction with sustaining tension alongside absurd humour. The supporting cast, ensemble staging and claustrophobic setting also draw praise, while several reviews value the film’s attention to working-class lives and social hypocrisy.
The differences concern how much depth critics find beneath that energy, rather than whether the film works. Time Out admires the detailed observation and Pacino’s performance but finds the visual and intellectual imagination limited. The New Yorker praises the control of the farce and crowd scenes, while finding the tone sometimes blustering and the characterisation oafish. The spread runs from qualified approval to strong enthusiasm, with even the more reserved accounts finding substantial acting and directorial skill.