Review of Before the Devil Knows You're Dead (2007) by Lauren B — 23 Jul 2009

Fitting very appropriately into the category of 'melodrama', everything about Before The Devil Knows You're Dead pushed every limit without becoming distratingly ridiculous. All of the characters were really just caricatures, and the plot is so outlandish that it would be comical if it wasn't so grim.

It takes acute perception to find and mind that line between satirical and serious, between travesty and tragedy, and Lumet appears to have that depth of understanding. Hoffman and Hawke play brothers Andy and Hank, who have absolutely nothing in common except for their propensity to royally screw things up.

Andy is a successful but unhappy businessman with a large apartment and a beautiful wife-- but instead of actually enjoying these things, he splits his time between satiating his drug addiction and smoldering with contempt towards his father.

Hank is divorced, broke, and cannot even pay child support, but at least he's screwing Andy's wife (Tomei, and she too is an exaggeratedly messed up character). Each brother feels that he is at the end of his rope, (albeit that rope is a lot shorter for the latter than the former) and Andy devises a plan to solve all their problems-- somehow coming to the conclusion that it wouldn't be a bad idea to rob their parents' jewelry store.

Hank, by far the weaker of the two, is too afraid to say no but also too afraid to carry out the plan correctly. Things suddenly go very very wrong, but apparently Hank and Andy were the only ones who hadn't expected this.

Hoffman settles comfortably into the role of the authoritative, dominant brother and just watching Hawke as the nervous, jittery, absolutely petrified Hank made me squirm in anxiety. Although not a stand-out film, Before The Devil Knows You're Dead was entertaining, and stylish in its disjointed and revisited storytelling and catchy camera angles.