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Review & Trailer: Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead

by Jane Boursaw on April 10th, 2008

Movie: Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead * Buy It on Amazon	On DVD:	April 15, 2008
Runtime: 117 minutes	In Theaters:	Oct. 26, 2007
MPAA Rating: Rated R for a scene of strong graphic sexuality, nudity, violence, drug use and language.	Gecko Rating:

This movie didn’t see a lot of theater time when it was released, but it’s a great movie that deserves to be seen and promoted. It’s grim and intense, with a great cast, gritty script by Kelly Masterson, and one of the best directors around, 83-year-old Sidney Lumet.

It opens with a sex scene, which seems a little gratuitous and out of place, but the plot kicks into action shortly thereafter. Andy (Philip Seymour Hoffman) has come up with the perfect crime: rob the jewelry store owned and operated by his parents, Charles (Albert Finney) and Nanette (Rosemary Harris). Andy knows the $600,000 stash is fully insured, so Charles and Nannette won’t lose anything. He also knows his mom doesn’t work at the store anymore, so no worries there. Besides that, there doesn’t need to be any guns or violence involved. Quick, easy, and clean, right?

To pull off the caper, Andy calls on his younger brother Hank (Ethan Hawke), who brings in an outsider, Bobby (Brian F. O’Byrne). But instead of using a fake gun as the brothers planned…

…Bobby brings a real one to the robbery. And it so happens that the brothers’ mom is working that day, and she pulls out a hidden firearm and fires on a masked Bobby’s when his back is turned. The resulting bloodbath leaves both Nanette and Bobby dead, and the brothers and their dad badly shaken.

Throw in a woman named Gina (Marisa Tomei), who’s married to Andy and having an affair with Hank, and you’ve got a tangled mess all the way around. What begins as a crime thriller spirals into a family drama about jealousy, revenge, and dysfunctional relationships.

As the plot unfolds like a bad nightmare, you can feel the desperation of the brothers. They both have serious financial problems, which led to the robbery in the first place. On top of that is Andy’s heroin addiction, Hank’s broken marriage with Martha (Amy Ryan), the brothers’ growing resentment for each other, and the horrible grief they’ve caused their dad in the loss of his wife.

One thing I didn’t like is the non-chronological timeline. The movie flashes forward and backward, presenting events from various viewpoints. It’s not so much that it’s confusing, but it just gets tiresome after a while. I kept thinking, get on with it. Let’s see how this plays out.

Still, I highly recommend Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead for anyone who loves bleak film-noir movies. It’s a fascinating look at how someone copes with being the inadvertent murderer of their own parent. Not only do the brothers not have the robbery cash to get back on track, but now they’ve lost their mom, as well. It’s like a nightmare they can’t wake up from, especially as their dad gets closer and closer to the truth. All the characters turn in brilliant performances, but the standout is Philip Seymour Hoffman, who continues to outdo himself with each new film role.

And after four decades in the movie business, Sidney Lumet shows that he’s still a master at crafting a brilliant, thought-provoking film.

DVD Extras: The Making of “Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead”; Interviews with Philip Seymour Hoffman, Ethan Hawke, Marisa Tomei, and Sidney Lumet; Commentary with Lumet, Hoffman and Hawke; Theatrical Trailer.

Check out the theatrical trailer: