But the multiple ironies of the scene go further than perhaps the filmmakers intended. We can pretty confidently expect that the ending of this movie will not be “a morality tale” — at least not the traditional sort exemplified by Dog Day Afternoon. But the appeal to “realism” — by which the speaker means that outside of the movies not only do ruthless villains neglect to build up suspense but crime actually does pay — is wonderfully double-edged. For by fracturing what are by now long out-dated movie conventions, Sena’s movie produces not more but less realism. Real hostage-takers are more like the muddled and pathetic character portrayed by Mr Pacino than the machine-like and omnicompetent Gabriel Shear presented to us by Mr Travolta. And they rarely if ever escape scot-free with the girl and the money.
