DVD Review: Before the Devil Knows You're Dead

Directed by Sidney Lumet
2007
Starring: Philip Seymour Hoffman, Ethan Hawke, Marisa Tomei, Albert Finney, Rosemary Harris


Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead opens with a jewel heist that leaves an old woman and the burglar both dead. The narrative immediately flashes back to three days before the crime and the film seems destined to become a clever yet predictable modern heist flick. However, the script by playwright Kelly Masterson aspires to much more than criminal intrigue and in the hands of director Sidney Lumet (Dog Day Afternoon, 12 Angry Men) it becomes a tragedy of epic proportion.

Brothers Hank (Hawke) and Andy Hanson (Hoffman) are both financially overextended – hot shot real-estate broker Andy has been stealing from his firm to pay for a secret drug habit and sweet, hapless Hank is three months behind in child support and tuition for his daughter’s fancy private school. Flashbacks reveal that they have plotted to rob their own parents’ jewelry store; they know the layout, the security, the employees, and their consciences can rest easy knowing that anything they steal is fully insured. Unfortunately for Hank and Andy, it becomes painfully obvious how this seemingly perfect crime went horribly wrong as the flashbacks reveal their miscommunication and criminal ineptitude.

In the hands of some directors non-linear narration is like a magic trick, misdirecting the audience’s attention and building expectation before unveiling a final, stunning twist that leaves you wondering how you possibly could have seen it coming. Lumet, however, seems completely uninterested in fooling his audience; he grimly lays out all his cards in the first third of the film and proceeds to patiently explain exactly how this particular trick has gone wrong. His characters seem to think they are operating in shadows and darkness but the film is sun drenched and overexposed; even when they’re inside, bright light pours in through every window and emanates from the harsh fluorescents of ceiling fixtures and appliances. Beneath this revealing glare we know all the characters’ secrets long before they do and there is a morbid fascination in watching them scheme and lie to avoid what we know is inevitable.

It is a pleasure to see Lumet deliver a film this ambitious and aggressive so late in his career and all of his actors rise to the occasion to give inspired performances. Philip Seymour Hoffman (Capote, Boogie Nights) smothers Andy’s barely concealed desperation in sleazy nonchalance; he brags that he knows all the angles and watching his cocky façade crumble is a treat. Ethan Hawke (Training Day), typically reliable yet unspectacular, gives a fine performance as younger brother Hank, spending most of the film looking like he’s about to throw up. His ex-wife (Amy Ryan, Gone Baby Gone) – and his daughter – routinely remind him that he’s a loser and it’s a shock that he musters up the backbone to have an affair with Andy’s wife, played by Marisa Tomei (In the Bedroom) in a small but sexually and emotionally charged role. The film’s best performance comes from Albert Finney (Big Fish, Miller's Crossing) as the Hanson family patriarch. Blindsided by the murder that opens the film, he takes it upon himself to investigate and much of the film’s suspense is derived from watching his joviality transform into mournful vengeance.

Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead stands as one of the finer films released in recent memory. Curiously ignored around awards time (even given the number of excellent films last year), it deserves a second look on DVD and will likely stand as an impressive addition to Lumet’s already illustrious filmography.