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Before the Devil Knows You're Dead

Sidney Lumet is one of those name directors who, when critics find his name associated with a film, tend to genuflect in reverence. As such, it's no great surprise to see the outpouring of praise given to Before The Devil Knows You're Dead (it scored an 88% Fresh rating at Rotten Tomatoes), however viewing it left me feeling as empty as a Biafran famine victim. With an impressive cast comprised of Philip Seymour Hoffman, Ethan Hawke, Albert Finney and Marisa Tomei, coupled with Lumet's directorial prowess and a smart story by Kelly Masterson, one could be forgiven for thinking things would be a slam-dunk, but they aren't. Telling the story of two brothers (Hoffman and Hawke), each with their own set of financial troubles, who opt to rob their parent's jewelry store only to have the heist go south on them, "Dead" strikes an ambitious if well-worn tack of jumping back in forth in time akin to the TV show Lost, showing the evolution, execution and aftermath of the crime from various stages and perspectives. There's much that's interesting and compelling here, except that at the end of the journey I found myself detached from the characters and thinking that more might have been accomplished if a more conventional sequencing of the narrative had been chosen, instead of the bouncing to the various characters points of view. This isn't to say that there aren't some terrific performances going on here. Finney, in his 70th decade, is still a powerful screen presence, and Hoffman is an unquestionable talent portraying the heroin-addicted corporate financial wonk Charles Hanson to perfection. In fact, I can't find a single flaw with the performances in this picture. Even Tomei – who, at age 43, has a body I would crawl a mile over broken glass for, and flaunts it in the raw copiously – is compellingly believable as the torn mistress boinking both Hanson brothers (Hoffman and Hawke) and who is emotionally split between the two. The problem is that for all the acting, directorial and cinematic firepower behind this movie, it never once sucked me in emotionally or believably. Many of the plot's twists are telegraphed and easily foreseen, right from the very beginning. With all the surprise removed from the journey, it becomes akin to little more than an exercise in watching a bunch of veterans from an acting studio go through their lines. Such a waste.

I must admit that this is the type of film that I would normally eschew, but I rented it basically because of the stars. I certainly was not sorry. In fact, as you see, I rated it five stars. This film is the perfect combination of sharp directing and superior acting. Andy and Hank Hanson are brothers who decide to commit the uncouth crime of robbing their parents' jewelry store. The crime goes terribly wrong - thus beginning an examination of the three men in the Hanson family. Through a series of flashbacks, we get to know Charles Hanson and come to an understanding of the strained relationship between father and sons. Younger brother, Hank is basically a screw-up. He has always had trouble holding a job and pretty much goes in the direction of the wind. Hank is insecure, cowardly, and very much under the influence of his big brother. Ethan Hawke has the character of Hank "nailed to a T" and gives what is probably his best performance thus far. He shows us a man who is basically good-hearted but so influenced by outside forces that he is unable to follow through with any important task. Andy - on the surface - appears to be a successful businessman, but we soon discover that he is addicted to drugs and has been embezzling from his company to pay for his habit. It is Andy who concocts the scheme to rob his parents' store, and he gets weak-willed Hank to commit the act. Philip Seymour Hoffman - surely one of the finest actors of our time - plays Andy. Hoffman is an actor who has the ability to portray a man who, on the surface, is a charming businessman liked by his acquaintances but a real slime ball underneath. He is absolutely perfect for the part of Andy or it might be said that he, through his superior acting skills, made Andy the perfect part. Albert Finney plays a father common to his generation. Charles Hanson is not a bad or unfeeling man, but he has a lousy relationship with his sons because he never really understood what was necessary in nurturing a positive bond between his sons and himself. He has always been too quick to criticize and admonish. He always made it clear that he favored his younger son over his older thus causing a wide emotional rift between himself and Andy. As we get to know Charles and Andy, the thought of Andy forming a plan to rob from his father becomes less unbelievable. On a personal note, I cannot believe how much Charles Hanson reminded me of my own father, and how much Andy and Hank reminded me of my own brother and myself. Perhaps this may be one of the reasons that I enjoyed the film so much as this story of a distant, critical father, a more successful older brother, and a less successful younger brother hit so close to home. Fortunately, my brother and I never came to the state of committing a crime against my parents- guess we were made of sterner and more moral stuff. This complex of personalities and actions has been expertly put together by director, Sidney Lumet. At eighty-three, he still has the chops to give the audience engrossing characters and edge-of-seat action that hypnotizes. 12 Angry Men was his first film made fifty years prior to Before the Devil Knows You're Dead, but he hasn't lost any bit of his magic touch in showing us characters that will be long remembered. The events and characters in Before the Devil Knows You're Dead are harsh and unattractive, and this is definitely not a feel-good movie. However, it is two hours of ultimate entertainment which I thoroughly recommend.

After seeing good user comments and high rating on IMDb, i decided to watch this film yesterday but I am really regretting my decision. The element of thrill and mystery was almost non-existent, the plot was weak and I couldn't empathise with any of the characters - I am not saying that the acting was bad, but the movie simply failed to develop any feelings of sympathy/hate/anger towards any of the characters. I remained indifferent to whatever happened to the characters as I painfully waited for the boring end to eventually dawn upon us - as if it was very difficult to predict it in the first place. The movie has been labelled as thriller/mystery but I failed to see what was so thrilling about it or where was the great mystery - or maybe that in itself was the mystery bit. I am still dazed at how shockingly pathetic the movie was although it has been more than 24 hours since I have watched it. This movie is 123 minutes of mind-numbing boredom and excruciating torture. Avoid it as you would avoid flesh eating zombies. Following are the top 10 reasons why you could still be interested in watching this movie: 1. If you are a die hard fan of Sydney Lumet and would love to watch even if he films pooping cows 2. If you like dud thrillers and particularly those dud thrillers where the writer goes "Hey I have an awesome idea, lets show the ending right in the beginning and then go through it all over again through a series of highly sedating and annoying flashbacks" 3. If you have a fascination for extremely complicated crime plots that have holes as big as plane hangers and are hatched by characters having IQs between those of rabbit droppings and sleeping toads 4. If you want to experience how does it feel like to watch a 10 minute story line being mercilessly extended into a full length movie 5. If you are fond of unexpected breast flashing and gratuitous sex scenes 6. If you are fond of unexpected breast flashing and gratuitous sex scenes that involve Marisa Tomei 7. If you are either a masochist and take pleasure in self torture or you are a nihilist and want to see how evil mankind actually is 8. If you are both 9. If you have a * for gay drug dealers who wear something similar to a kimono and stash their money in open safe boxes 10. All of the above

BEFORE THE DEVIL KNOWS YOU'RE DEAD starts off promisingly, setting up a simple heist that goes awry, told from varying perspectives (in RASHOMON style). At around the hour mark, Sidney Lumet transforms this film into something that is so much more than the sum of its parts; it eventually morphs into a multi-faceted family drama, exploring the full realm of human emotions/relations, as the story comes to its chilling climax. As is the case with Lumet, he manages to coax exceptional performances out of his star-studded cast, without any notion of over-acting or hyperbole. Philip Seymour Hoffman, in one of his best roles, is a complex, mysterious, and interesting character, and oftentimes dwarfs Ethan Hawke, who plays his brother, Hank. That's not to say that Hawke is not bad; in fact he is quite above adequate, in a troubled role that suits his style. Marisa Tomei is excellent for her relatively short appearance (the fact that she bares her flesh adds to this). Albert Finney's character (Andy and Hank's father) is the most intriguing, and in my opinion, he deserved a bit more screen-time. Amy Ryan also performs her job adequately. BEFORE THE DEVIL KNOWS YOU'RE DEAD is not an exceptional movie, but it proves that Lumet is still near the top of his game at the (apparent) twilight of an illustrious career. Many of his characteristics and trademarks appear here, not least of which involves the use of his characters. Infused with a killer script (no pun intended), smart dialogue and pacing, and a decent score, BEFORE THE DEVIL KNOWS YOU'RE DEAD is a must-see. A truly underrated gem. 8/10. 3 stars (out of 4). Should just enter my Top 250 at 248. Highly recommended.

If Lumet doesn't get an Oscar for this gripping thriller it would be a travesty. It is truly a masterpiece. This movie, on its surface, is about a heist gone wrong and that story is enough to warrant high praise, but the underlying tale about corrosive family relationships that lead to tragedy and destruction is Shakespearian in nature. Everything from the screenplay, the pacing, the editing, to the acting is superb. Philip Hoffman is brilliant, but I must say that I was surprised at being, at least, equally impressed with Ethan Hawke. The rest of the cast, which includes the very talented, Marisa Tomei and the legendary Albert Finney, down to smallest of roles are as perfect an ensemble as you'll ever see in in film. If you haven't seen this movie, do yourself a favor and go as soon as you can.

As a last film for a truly legendary director, Before The Devil Knows You're Dead can only be described as a haunting, underrated masterpiece that any viewer will not soon forget. The film consists of an all-star cast, including the likes of the late Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Ethan Hawke, Marisa Tomei and Albert Finney. Even Michael Shannon shares a brief, but memorable, bit of run time. The casting was excellent all around and there were no characters that felt out of place or unnecessary to the story. Phillip Seymour Hoffman and Ethan Hawke specifically were the best either of them have ever been. The solid script and carefully written dialogue shared between the two main characters delivers some of the film's most riveting moments. And the "car scene" is one of Hoffman's most memorable on-screen moments. Those of you who have seen the film will know what I am referring to and those unaware are in for a treat. The story, while simple and admittedly not too original, manages to effectively show the characters' descent into violence and madness while jumping to before and after the event in which the movie revolves around. While sometimes the movie holds our hand a little too much with the story telling, I appreciated the fact that this movie wanted us to never be confused or lost within the time-jumping narrative. I was always aware of where our characters were and what point of the story I was witnessing. Now I have seen many comparisons between this film and the masterpiece known as Fargo, and while it shares the same theme of "simple crime gone horribly wrong" Before The Devil Knows You're Dead is not a darkly comedic venture. In fact, this movie is rarely anything but somber and hopeless. This is not a bad thing though as it seems that this was the director's intent. Delivering a powerful message through spurts of violence and intensity while never straying from the realm of reality within the movie. The violence and thrills are handled very well and are, at times, extremely intense. Now with all that said, there is only one thing that stopped the movie from being perfect and that is the ending. Normally when following characters throughout a movie we like to see how their story ends. It is common in all basic story telling. The importance of this cannot be stressed enough, especially if we are following a certain character throughout the entire film. Viewers want to know what happened to the character they have been following for the past two hours, but this movie denies you of that. It leaves the fate of the character out of view, and while that works for some movies, I sadly don't think it was the right choice here. Seeing all the things that this character has gone through and leaving it unfinished before the movie is over feels incredibly abrupt and doesn't fit with the rest of the movie. Despite this issue, Before The Devil Knows You're Dead is a masterpiece from a truly talented director. A tight written script brought together by superb acting and thrills, this is definitely a movie you should make time for.

Sidney Lumet knows the wages of sin. Dog Day Afternoon was a classic of the heist that went wrong with a performance by Al Pacino that went right. His newest crime in the city is Before the Devil Knows You're Dead, from an Irish toast, "May you be in heaven half an hour before the devil knows you're dead." The brothers who rob their parents' Westchester jewelry store, Andy Hanson (Philip Seymour Hoffman) and Hank (Ethan Hawke) will surely be having a dialogue with the Hot One when their lives are through, and they have suffered through the Lumet circle of Hell-on-earth reserved for those not talented enough to avoid Nemesis even in this life. Lumet quietly builds the cascade of troubles from a couple of simple mistakes in the crime's execution. Each moment is fraught with punishing possibilities, some just dumb luck, others straight out of existential responsibility. But each of those moments is bearable because Lumet has ascribed the fault to the right places. We may squirm at each turn of bad luck, but we are confident the forces of righteousness will prevail. Like Orson Welles, Lumet isn't much interested in linear narrative as he cuts in and out of the four days before the heist and the week after. That non-linear presentation allows the audience to verify the early character-consistency estimates now played out at random times. Befitting Lumet's seminal study of directing, Making Movies (1995), the shots are composed to show the growing alienation of the brothers from their father and each other. For example, a long shot of the two brothers assessing the damage has them placed like bookends, far apart but linked by the fate they are working out at that moment. Their Greek tragic-like lives are exemplified before the robbery in the petty adultery and embezzling that already corrode all their relationships. Andy's Wife, Gina (Marisa Tomei), who is sleeping with Hank, fulfills the requirements of a Siren who may have no idea how dangerous she is. The Devil will have his due.

What is the point of this movie? If I need to see evidence of inhumane treatment of others, all I need to do is turn on the news. This is a pointless, depressing movie that is difficult to watch (the lighting was poor, no doubt in keeping with the rest of the movie) with no redeeming qualities whatsoever. Who cares if the actors can accurately portray selfish, misguided behaviors and judgments? What is anyone to conclude from this movie: Don't have children? Don't steal from and murder your parents or children? It's OK and justifiable to kill your children if they do it to you first? Clearly, movies do not need to be neatly wrapped morality stories, but c'mon give the audience something other that morose depression. Avoid this movie at all cost.