Review of Before the Devil Knows You're Dead (2007) by Jacks. — 13 Nov 2007
This is not a bad move. It's deifnitely better than most. The performances are great. And the direction is decent. But comparison's to Lumet's other works in his heyday (Dog Day Afternoon & Serpico) are completely off.
Those are classics. This is a good film of the moment and I can't imagine ever seeing it again because once you know the plot, the majority of the tension is gone. And in the end, I didn't care who lived or died.
This is pretty similar to how I felt about characters in "The Departed". But in the case of that film, I felt more empathy with the characters and am still shocked at twists/turns in that film since the direction there was truly artful and well done.
Happy to see Sidney Lumet still in control, but I feel people are praising this film more than it deserves.
This review of Before the Devil Knows You're Dead (2007) was written by Jacks. on 13 Nov 2007.
Before the Devil Knows You're Dead has generally received very positive reviews.
Was this review helpful?
