Review of Before the Devil Knows You're Dead (2007) by Matteo L — 05 Sep 2012
The final film by Sidney Lumet, whose career included 12 Angry Men (1957), Murder on the Orient Express (1974), Dog Day Afternoon (1975) and Network (1976)), this is a taut, tight thriller and this is the film Cassandra's Dream (2007) should have been.
It has some very good performances in it, and it's got an original way of telling this complex story, as nothing is what it seems. Andy Hanson (Philip Seymour Hoffman), works for a successful real estate firm in New York married to Gina (Marisa Tomei), but he's been embezzling money from the firm, and an upcoming audit will expose him.
He comes up with a plan to make a run for it to Rio, as he's spent all the money he stole on drugs, and his brother Hank (Ethan Hawke), is 3 months behind on child support. So, they come up with a plan to rob their parents jewelry store.
Hank hires Bobby Lasorda (Brian F. O'Byrne) to commit the crime, but Andy and Hank's mother Nanette (Rosemary Harris) is working at the store, a shootout occurs and both Bobby and Nanette end up dead.
Their widowed father Charles (Albert Finney) wants answers, and does his own investigation into what really happened. It's a very clever thriller, using flashbacks of each of the characters to show their motives and how it lead to this, and what happens to each of the characters afterwards.
Hoffman, Hawke and Finney give excellent performances, and it's a modern Greek tragedy, and there's added poignancy as it was Lumet's final film, but it's a great film to end his long and excellent career with.
This review of Before the Devil Knows You're Dead (2007) was written by Matteo L on 05 Sep 2012.
Before the Devil Knows You're Dead has generally received very positive reviews.
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