Scan and Pan
Sunday, November 18, 2007
Before the Devil Knows You're Dead
Andy (Philip Seymour Hoffman) is an executive with a drug problem and a failing marriage to an unfaithful wife (Marisa Tomei). In need of money, he convinces his similarly cash desperate younger brother Hank (Ethan Hawke) to rob a jewelry store belonging to their parents (Albert Finney, Rosemary Harris). Hank hires a criminal acquaintance named Bobby (Brían F. O'Byrne) to do the actual robbery, but things go awry with tragic consequences for all involved.
Sidney Lumet has been directing television and film since the early 1950s, with credits including 12 Angry Men, Serpico, Dog Day Afternoon, Network, and The Verdict. At the age of 83, he adds another quality film to his resume, demonstrating an old school substance over style approach that gets to the heart of an almost operatic tragedy. He tells the story through flashbacks and from multiple perspectives, carefully weaving the threads until they come together with a terrible finality.
The original screenplay by playwright Kelly Masterson presents a compelling and fatalistic profile of human beings whose lives are spiraling out of control by their own actions and the actions of those around them. There are some plot twists that require suspension of disbelief, and a couple of plot threads aren't adequately resolved at the end, but those are minor quibbles. The focus on the characters is what makes this story really work.
Lumet recently declared that the future of filmmaking is in digital video, and this is his first film to be shot in that format. Using the Panavision Genesis high definition video camera (most notably used previously on Superman Returns and Zodiac), cinematographer Ron Fortunato (Basquiat, Catch a Fire) achieves a low-key realism that captures the tone of the story without getting in the way of the performances, matched by the production designs of Christopher Nowak (The X-Files, Find Me Guilty) and the dramatic score by Carter Burwell (The Big Lebowski, No Country for Old Men).
Lumet always draws out the best possible performances from his cast, and here that includes Hoffman and Hawke as the ill-fated siblings, Finney and Harris as their parents, Tomei as Andy's wife, O'Byrne as Bobby, Aleksa Palladino as Bobby's wife, Michael Shannon as her scheming brother, and Leonardo Cimino as a jewelry fence. Hoffman always seems to quietly deliver great performances, Hawke and Tomei serve up their best work in years, and Finney is spellbinding. The acting keeps the film on track even when the script drifts into occasionally hard to believe areas.
Before the Devil Knows You're Dead dives into the darker abysses of familial relationships and takes the audience along for the ride, complete with thrilling plot twists and the rush of watching a master storyteller and skilled actors do what they do best.
[4.5 out of 5 stars]
This is a very good film, blessed with a veteran director and a great cast working from a strong, character driven screenplay. If that's the recipe for a successful film, then this cinematic meal passes the taste test.
Andy (Philip Seymour Hoffman) is an executive with a drug problem and a failing marriage to an unfaithful wife (Marisa Tomei). In need of money, he convinces his similarly cash desperate younger brother Hank (Ethan Hawke) to rob a jewelry store belonging to their parents (Albert Finney, Rosemary Harris). Hank hires a criminal acquaintance named Bobby (Brían F. O'Byrne) to do the actual robbery, but things go awry with tragic consequences for all involved.
Sidney Lumet has been directing television and film since the early 1950s, with credits including 12 Angry Men, Serpico, Dog Day Afternoon, Network, and The Verdict. At the age of 83, he adds another quality film to his resume, demonstrating an old school substance over style approach that gets to the heart of an almost operatic tragedy. He tells the story through flashbacks and from multiple perspectives, carefully weaving the threads until they come together with a terrible finality.
The original screenplay by playwright Kelly Masterson presents a compelling and fatalistic profile of human beings whose lives are spiraling out of control by their own actions and the actions of those around them. There are some plot twists that require suspension of disbelief, and a couple of plot threads aren't adequately resolved at the end, but those are minor quibbles. The focus on the characters is what makes this story really work.
Lumet recently declared that the future of filmmaking is in digital video, and this is his first film to be shot in that format. Using the Panavision Genesis high definition video camera (most notably used previously on Superman Returns and Zodiac), cinematographer Ron Fortunato (Basquiat, Catch a Fire) achieves a low-key realism that captures the tone of the story without getting in the way of the performances, matched by the production designs of Christopher Nowak (The X-Files, Find Me Guilty) and the dramatic score by Carter Burwell (The Big Lebowski, No Country for Old Men).
Lumet always draws out the best possible performances from his cast, and here that includes Hoffman and Hawke as the ill-fated siblings, Finney and Harris as their parents, Tomei as Andy's wife, O'Byrne as Bobby, Aleksa Palladino as Bobby's wife, Michael Shannon as her scheming brother, and Leonardo Cimino as a jewelry fence. Hoffman always seems to quietly deliver great performances, Hawke and Tomei serve up their best work in years, and Finney is spellbinding. The acting keeps the film on track even when the script drifts into occasionally hard to believe areas.
Before the Devil Knows You're Dead dives into the darker abysses of familial relationships and takes the audience along for the ride, complete with thrilling plot twists and the rush of watching a master storyteller and skilled actors do what they do best.
[4.5 out of 5 stars]
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