Before the Devil Knows You're Dead (2007)

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  March 6, 2012

  fb1038944442

  Before the Devil... is a gripping melodrama, the last film directed by a true American master, then 83 year old Sidney Lumet. It has a terrific script in the classic film noir vein, a stellar cast, it's filmed with precision and intensity, and is full of truth and is never predic... read moretable. The story of brothers, both at the end of their ropes financially and personally, who are driven to pull off a heist (they are not professional crooks) on the jewelry shop of their own parents. After the heist goes terribly wrong, things spin further and further out of control. What is amazing is that just as you think things can't get worse for the boys, it keeps going further and further downhill, to almost unbearable levels. Phillip Seymore Hoffman is the mastermind behind the operation, in a failing marriage with Marisa Tomei, addicted to heroin, having stolen from his company and living in a world of hurt. His brother, Ethan Hawke, ostensibly even more of a loser, is a divorced dad owing months of alimony to his angry ex (Amy Ryan) and sleeping with his brother's wife. Rosemary Harris and Albert Finney are the parents, who have more love for each other than for their ne'er do well sons. Look out for up and comer Michael Shannon as a sleazy blackmailer and the excellent Brian O'Byrne who is the dupe who is enlisted to pull off the heist. All are excellent, but I'd like to single out the tragic, surprising performance of the great Albert Finney as a confilcted, flawed, and angry patriarch. Tomei is great (looking, too she's often naked) but the script gives her less depth than the other characters. Hawke and Hoffman are the core of the film, and both do excellent, if characteristic work. Hoffman plays a bit more of an evil cad then he normally plays, and Hawke is his character in Training Day, gone sweaty and middle aged. The extreme elements set up by the script are hugely over the top, but it works, because of the supremely committed, intense and true acting and the total believability of the identifably banal settings (Westchester county and NYC) and the flawed human characters. The film has similarities to Lumet's Dog Day Afternoon, but it has much more melodrama, in the most positive spin of that word. This film stands in the Lumet canon alongside Dog Day, Network, Serpico, and 12 Angry Men, and does not seem like the work of an octagenarian. It's well worth your time.

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• 
  
  July 23, 2011

  blkbomb

  "No one was supposed to get hurt"
  
  It was supposed to go down perfect. It was supposed to be easy. But robberies never end up being as perfect as they are supposed to be. Before The Devil Knows You're Dead is another example of that. Hell, Lumet has done a robbery gone wrong befo... read morere with Dog Day Afternoon. Before The Devil Knows You're Dead is a great movie and a great ending to Lumet's career. The film is done out of order, which can sometimes seem cheap and gimmicky. Here it doesn't. Everything works well in the order that Lumet wanted it to be shown. We see how the robbery went down in the second scene. From there we don't know where the story is going to go. It's unpredictable and that's what I loved about it. It wasn't a movie where you had a good idea what was going to happen in the next scene. I had no idea and that not knowing kept me in suspense for the entire film.
  
  The film obviously has a talented director behind it with one of the best in the business, Sidney Lumet. The man is a complete genius. He brought us such classics as Network and Dog Day Afternoon. The movie also has one of my favorite actors in it and that would be Philip Seymour Hoffman. He's a terrific actor and he's as good as ever in his role here. He plays an out of control character perfectly. Another actor who I can take or leave, Ethan Hawke, gives probably is best performance. I wouldn't have thought he could pull a character like Hank off, but he does convincingly.
  
  If the movie has a flaw it would be that one of the characters isn't completely wrapped up in the end. We don't know what happens to him in the end. Maybe we don't really need to know because the ideas of the movie are wrapped up. We see where greed, recklessness and bad decisions got the characters in the end and I believe that everything that we needed to see, we saw. 
  
  This is probably my third favorite Lumet movie behind Dog Day Afternoon and Running On Empty. The man really did have an extraordinary career. I think him making a final masterpiece with Before The Devil... is quite fitting. 

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• 
  
  January 2, 2011

  BEACHBUNNI

  Before the Devil Knows You're Dead is a psychological crime thriller,families dont come much more dysfunctional than the Hansons~!
  It is the story of (Hoffman) and Nick (Ethan Hawke), two brothers who decide to rob their parents (Albert Finney and Rosemary Harris) jewelry shop ... read moreto get some much needed cash, It is insured, Andy assures his doubtful brother, and they know the shop,so he thinks It will be the perfect crime they are in for a rude awakening. The robbery goes wrong and the two spend the rest of the film dodging all of the many complications which inevitably pop up , affairs, drugs, anger, thugs, betrayal... it goes on and on. There are a multitude of plot twists..
  i thought it was a good movie with a good cast.

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• 
  
  November 15, 2010

  LWOODS04

  Cast: Philip Seymour Hoffman, Ethan Hawke, Albert Finney, Rosemary Harris, Marisa Tomei, Arija Bareikis, Paul Butler, Jack Fitz, Alex Emanuel
  
  Director: Sidney Lumet
  
  Summary: The perfect crime goes horribly wrong for brothers Andy (Philip Seymour Hoffman) and Hank (Ethan H... read moreawke) when they botch a robbery of their parents' jewelry store.
  
  My Thoughts: "The concept of the movie was fresh, and I liked how it played out with all the flash backs. But it was just to slow for me. Great acting by all. But what a waste of Marisa Tomei. Most of her (if not all) time on screen was spent with her in bed with one of the brothers. Waste of talent. Liked to have seen her with a bigger part, considering she was one of my reasons for watching the film. In the end it was well made but just OK for me."

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• 
  
  October 30, 2010

  danperry17

  What Lumet has given us here is a beautifully shot and terrifyingly well-acted film. There are two problems with it: it's plodding, and it features Marisa Tomei. There was a time I defended her against her many haters - she's a capable actress - but here more than in many other r... read moreoles, she little more than her breasts. Is it just me, or are they getting a little ubiquitous... I'm thinking of The Wrestler, as well...
  
  But this was to be a review of a movie, not a rack (haha). Philip Seymour Hoffman may be the best living actor. In this film, he runs through an incredible range of emotions (tiny spoiler) from high on heroin to blinded by rage to smooth talking manipulator to grieving son to jilted husband (not necessarily in that order). His performance is nearly matched by the slightly overcompensating Ethan Hawke and the surprisingly badass Albert Finney.
  
  The colours and the lighting made the visuals incredible, and the non-linear style did jazz up a somewhat formulaic plot, but in my book this film gets high marks because it's more than a caper-gone-wrong flick, it's art. Jeez, kind of reminds of this other movie I've seen... Dog Day Something-or-other... it was directed by this guy Sidney... uh... Lumet, I believe it was?
  
  Totally worth sitting through. Dark, daring and desperate film-making with characters to match. Highly recommend.

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• 
  
  October 23, 2010

  fb1463751009

  A riveting crazy movie. There are a ridiculous amount of flaws in this movie, but the performances are top-notch. I greatly recommend this movie.

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• 
  
  May 14, 2010

  LoughnerWasLucid

  acting is so solid. i am such a hoffman fan now. jsut wish they didnt use the same gimmicky flashback thing that vantage point used. no film should remind people of that turd.

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• 
  
  March 29, 2010

  MovieGeek13

  There is no doubt in my mind that Sidney Lumet's latest effort ranks alongside 12 Angry Men, The Verdict, Dog Day Afternoon, and Serpico. There is so much that is great about this film it would be hard to talk about in one paragraph. I will be completely brief.
  The acting: Phi... read morelip Seymour Hoffman, Marisa Tomei, and Albert Finney are as good as they've ever been. Ethan Hawke holds his own right beside these top notch actors. There are so many scenes that could be studied in acting schools to show the craft at its best.
  The directing: Lumet gives a sense of style that rings similar to Danny Boyle and Guy Ritchie, although he manages to weave a sombre, classical Hollywood melodrama through this style. very impressive!
  The action: Minimalist yet effective.
  In a year that also saw the release of No Country for Old Men, Juno, Once, and There Will Be Blood, it's hard to rank Before the Devil Knows Your Dead above these masterpieces. But any other year and this would have been at the top of my list!

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• 
  
  October 27, 2009

  lewiskendell

  Before the Devil Knows You're dead is a movie about misery and bad decisions. Misery leads to more misery, and bad decisions made because of misery, that in turn lead to even more misery.
  
  The specific kind of misery involved here is the brand unique to families. Misery resultin... read moreg because the poor relationships between father and son, husband and wife, and father and daughter. There may be a crime at the center of the plot, but it's never really the movie's focus.
  
  The acting is as good as you expect. Seeing Hoffman and Tomei in the same movie was a treat, because they are two of my favorite people in Hollywood. There are no weak spots in the cast to think of. And the re-occuring theme music that plays from time to time in key scenes? Awesome.
  
  Much of the movie moves at a slightly subdued pace, and I'm sure there are people who won't care for that. But when an intense scene does happen, you won't be able to look away.

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• 
  
  October 10, 2009

  Chiefilms

  Non-linear story telling making a mess of a crazy plot, time shifts are constant as the scenes change like a Tarantino flick. Eerie and depressing conclusions but the cast and performances are excellent. Family destroys itself in this film, terrible. Albert Finney's facial exp... read moreressions are weeeirrd. Ethan Hawke makes some bizarre noises, and Marisa Tomei is always getting naked. Sidney's lost it!

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• Philip Seymour Hoffman as Andy Hanson
• Ethan Hawke as Hank Hanson
• Marisa Tomei as Gina Hanson
• Albert Finney as Charles Hanson
• Michael Shannon as Dex
• Brian F. O'Byrne as Bobby
• Amy Ryan as Martha
• Rosemary Harris as Nanette Hanson
• Aleksa Palladino as Chris

Click a thumb to vote on that suggestion, or add your own suggestions.

• 
  Fargo (97%)
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  Winter's Bone (93%)
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  Joe the King (96%)
• 
  Dog Day Afternoon (89%)

• • Andy Hanson: You sure I'm your son!
• • Hank Hanson: You're a prick.
  • Andy Hanson: I always was.
• • Dex: You don't look happy. Mind if I call you "Groucho"?
  • Andy Hanson: No, I don't mind.

• In "Before the Devil Knows You're Dead", what's the relationship of the characters played by Philip Seymour Hoffman and Ethan Hawke?  Answer »
• Out of the 3 films Philip Seymour Hoffman starred in last year (2007), which one was not nominated for any Oscars?  Answer »
• Philip Seymour Hoffman is in the film 'Before the Devil Knows You're Dead' 2007.  Answer »
• Notable & Influential Films of ____. Before the Devil Knows You're Dead La Vie en Rose Eastern Promises Planet Terror The Kite Runner  Answer »

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