rating:
(out of
4 stars)United States; 2007
Directed by Sidney Lumet; produced by Michael Cerenzie, William S. Gilmore, Brian Linse, Paul Parmar; written by Kelly Masterson
Starring Philip Seymour Hoffman, Ethan Hawke, Marisa Tomei, Albert Finney, Amy Ryan, Rosemary Harris, Aleksa Palladino
'Before the Devil Knows You're Dead' is the kind of film where telling you too much would spoil a great deal. It's an intriguing plot of a robbery gone wrong, moving back and forth in time, seeing the same events from different points of view. Fifty years after '12 Angry Men' and only two years after his Honorary Academy Award director Sidney Lumet still got it, directing Philip Seymour Hoffman, Ethan Hawke, Marisa Tomei and Albert Finney in this superb thriller.
Although I call this a thriller, the elements that label it as such are a result of human drama. The robbery is done by brothers Andy (Hoffman) and Hank (Hawke) on the jewelry store of their parents. Someone dies and a series of events is set in motion. I will leave it that. Albert Finney is their father, Marisa Tomei Andy's wife, having an affair with Hank. Hank's ex-wife, one of the reasons he needs money, is played by Amy Ryan. Her character is not that much different from her character in the award winning turn in 'Gone Baby Gone'.
I want to mention that film because it takes the same approach as 'Before the Devil Know You're Dead'. Both are thrillers on the surface, but the more the audience learns, the more layers are added to the story. Personal choices concerning the difference between right and wrong play big parts in both films. Here this is emphasized by the cinematography. A stark contrast between light and dark, often in the same room, could represent the two ways a character can go, the two choices that can be made.
The dramatic elements work not only through the writing, but through the performances as well. Hoffman by now has shown he can play anything. Only this year he has appeared in three completely different roles, all Oscar-worthy. For 'Charlie Wilson's War' his chances are best, but here he is equally good. Hawke, Finney and especially Tomei bring life to their characters and the choices they make. Most of them are not the right ones, but you actually believe you might make them too. 'Before the Devil Knows You're Dead' belongs to the best of 2007 and the best of Lumet.