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Last updated: 20 Jul 2026 at 14:08 UTC

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Review of by Amberf. — 15 Nov 2007

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This film is incredible. The writing, the acting, the timing, the directing . . . everything, impeccable. Nothing I write here will even do it justice. But I will try, if everyone makes every effort to go and see this film.

Lumet reveals the crucial moment in the first ten minutes, before you've had a chance to empathize with the characters or understand their motivations. That quickly changes, as the film cuts to the circumstances leading up to and after the event, a botched jewelery store robbery.

And this is not your average robbery, which is part of what makes this film so captivating. Two down-and-out brothers, Andy and Hank, believe robbing their parent's jewelery store provides a quick fix to their looming problems, including Hank's (Ethan Hawke) child support payments and disdainful treatment from his ex-wife and daughter and Andy's (Phillip Seymour Hoffman) drug addictions, painful marriage and IRS trouble at work.

When everything that can go wrong with the robbery does, viewers are left with the aftermath, which builds suspense, empathy and regret to a level no crime drama has ever reached.

This review of Before the Devil Knows You're Dead (2007) was written by on 15 Nov 2007.

Before the Devil Knows You're Dead has generally received very positive reviews.

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