Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead
Holy shit….. what a movie! This is a dark, nasty, riveting tale that one could easily imagine in the Coen Brother’s hands working as vicious black comedy. Director Sidney Lumet has instead played it lean, mean and without a trace of sentimentality. The acting is controlled and believable with standout performances by Philip Seymour Hoffman, Ethan Hawke, Marisa Tomei and Albert Finney. Carter Burwell's score is extraodinary and the script is complex without being convoluted.
The less you know about the plot going in the better. Without giving too much away, two brothers, whose lives are spiraling out of control for different reasons, fashion a harebrained scheme to rob their parent’s suburban jewelry store. Everything goes wrong and through a series of timeline jumps we see the events unfold from several different perspectives. Lumet is back in Gotham territory here (Serpico, Prince of the City, Network) and at 83 years old, has created a spellbinding adaptation of Kelly Masterson’s terrific first screenplay. Masterson is a name we will no doubt hear again if this script is any indication.
Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead is one of those films that ties you up in big knots. The walls close in relentlessly on these poor bastards and you know early on that there’s no way out. I squirmed, fidgeted and grimaced from start to finish watching these characters circle the bowl and loved every second of it. This is a film noir fan’s dream movie. Everybody is fucked and has to pay. It’s the flip side of the American dream baby but what a beautiful nightmare it is. A balls-to-the-wall tragedy of Shakespearian proportions pulled off with confidence and guts. Far and away the toughest film I’ve seen in a long, long time and excellent on every level.
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6 comments:
i HAVE to watch this.
I have to say Ethan Hawke to me was less then mediocre in the film. Hoffman as always single handedly makes the film, him and Albert Finney.
I have to say that the one thing that ruined my experience of this one was the absolutely unnecessary time change effect. When time would go forward or back there was this loud over dramatic editing sequence. It was so obnoxious and felt more at home in Timecop then this film. I know it's silly to not like a film because of an artistic choice but it was a really silly choice that to me, that as picky as it sounds, makes this a film i will find extremely hard to rewatch.
hahaha, going over my comment. there are a few things i feel i HAVE to say.
Funny Kris, I thought the timeline jumps worked (but I've complained about non-linear plot structures myself and know what you mean). I definitely agree that the “stutter” scene changes seemed out of place here… although I'm not sure whether I'd go as far as to describe them as “obnoxious”. Back to the timeline issue... by moving the 3rd act into the 1st, the dramatic tension becomes a function of the audience knowing outcome but not the motivations. From that perspective, I thought Lumet and Masterson nailed it. I also found Ethan Hawke well cast as the weak-willed brother and thought he more than held his own while Hoffman chewed up the scenery and everything else he could find. Hoffman and Finney needed the balance of the cast to underplay their roles and I think their performances stand out even more as a result. Notwithstanding the choices made by Lumet on how he presented the film, the caustic subject matter and coldness of the screenplay was the thing that grabbed me. Watching those two slimeballs twist in the wind was a joy to behold. It was like the secret joy you get watching a huge blowout between family members at the reunion picnic. I can even choke down some of Aunt Jessie’s inedible 3 bean salad if I get to see a good dustup.
i actually really enjoyed the timeline jumps. It made the story more engrossing. Just the stutter effect felt so out of place. more in place in an action movie. I don't know why it bothered me so. This film and my friends and i talking for weeks and i came to the conclusion that the stutter effect, such a minscule thing, knocked the movie from my short list of best of 2007. i know it's silly. When i get a new tv, i'll watch this over. I'll give it a second look over, just mute the stutter scenes.
oh god, marisa tomei is HOT!!!
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