3. 'Dog Day Afternoon'

Sonny and Sal (Al Pacino and John Cazale) in 'Dog Day Afternoon' (1975)

In this based-on-a-true-shaggy-dog-story film, Sonny and Sal are the two most hapless bank robbers-turned-hostage takers Brooklyn has ever seen. (Sonny wants the dough to pay for his lover's sex-change operation; the hangdog Sal is along for the ride.) Cazale follows up his not-too-bright Fredo in the 'Godfather' movies with another top-notch sad sack, while Pacino shows how Sonny makes up for incompetence with his unlikely folk-hero charisma.