Genres

Visitors Review

2012-05-22 08:34:35

Top-notch melodrama!

I was led, somehow, to this flick because of the names Philip Seymour Hoffman and Sidney Lumet, an irresistible pairing. Masterful in many ways, this film, and Hoffman seems unable to do wrong from one project to the next. What a treasure this actor is!Do not miss the documentary, the lesson from Lumet on the proper definition of melodrama, and a glimpse at a director in his eighties who is as stoked with creative energy as someone fifty years his junior.

2012-05-21 13:57:15

Before the Devil Knows Your're Dead

The work of Sidney Lumet is just fantastic. His direction is so insightful. The cast was wonderful too especially Philip Seymour Hoffman. Is there any part he can't breathe life into. It is a great film.

Tom 2012-05-19 15:26:34

Very Entertaining Film

I liked this movie very much. Although the film was not perfect,sometimes the musical score seemed out of place for the conversation,and the story that has been told many times before, seemed to meanderin parts. But the movie was not boring. Far from it, the superb actingkept me completely entertained throughout the whole film. This waspossible because of great directing on the part of Sidney Lumet. Idon't know if I was biased on the part of the 83 year old Hollywoodgenius, but every actor in this film seemed completely brilliant.Philip Seymour Hoffman was at his best as the older brother with a chipon his shoulder, who started with nothing and worked his way up to acorner office in Manhattan, but he had human frailties and stillmanaged to make a complete mess of his life. Ethan Hawke gave his bestperformance yet as the younger brother that has never learned how togrow up. Albert Finney gave a powerful performance as the over bearingfather whose affections both brothers were vying for. Marisa Tomeifinally put in a great acting job and was not just walking around likeeye candy (Although she did look really good). And it went on and on,Rosemary Harris and Amy Ryan very good, and even Michael Shannon andLeonardo Cimino were great in small roles. All this great acting couldnot be a coincidence; it is a testament to how Sidney Lumet, after allthese years, can still make a human crime drama.

bob the moo 2012-05-19 04:45:25

A well-told, engaging and effective tragedy

Andy and Hank Hanson are brothers who find themselves in need of aquick income for different reasons. The plan they come up with issimple – their parents own a small jewellery store that both Andy andHank are familiar with, from the amount of money on any given day tothe various alarm triggers round the store; seems simple. However therobbery does not go that way and ends in tragedy. From here the viewerjumps back several days before the robbery to see the conception of theplan through to the aftermath, where the ramifications are feltthroughout the whole family.The world is an evil place and it all starts with superficially simpleevil deeds, or at least it does here as the time-honoured "botchedrobbery" (are there any other kinds) leads to secrets, death andincreasingly desperate acts from all involved. The result is not acheerful film but rather a depressingly grim story that is a tragedymuch more than it is the crime thriller that IMDb places it as. Asbleak as it is, the film is quite compelling as I was caught up in thecharacters actions, interested to see where they went and how they gotout from under. Although it is not the most complex of pieces, it doesbenefit from well drawn characters who have a bit of story about themallowing the actors to expand what they are doing and have somethingthat injects desperation into their actions before things start goingwrong.The manner of delivery aids this as we jump into the job going wrongwith very little introduction. So, as we discover the reasons for thecrime, we are already aware of the things that have gone wrong. Itdoesn't feel like a gimmick at any point and only serves to make thetelling of the story more engaging. As director Lumet does a great jobof delivering some great shots and frames but does best to get his castto all perform. Hoffman does misery like nobody else and is great hereas the film goes on. Hawke has his moments but is not quite as good.Tomei doesn't have much time but is good when she has the chancealthough with this and The Wrestler I'm beginning to wonder if sheisn't rubbing it in about how good her body is. Finney and Ryan both dowell with smaller but important characters in terms of running time.Before the Devil is not a cheerful or "exciting" film but it is agripping tragedy that unfolds in a way that makes it more engaging thanit would have been played straight. The cast all deliver on theirmaterial and it does make for a professional and effective film that isworth seeing for the story it tells.

2012-05-10 02:16:22

AMERICA'S CRITIC

HATED IT ITS COMPLICATED AND I USUALLY LIKE COMPLICATED MIND BLOWING MOVIES THIS WAS A FLOP POOR ETHAN HAWKE WAS IN HERE TOO A DOWN GRADE FROM TRAINING DAY!!!! DONT RENT OR WASTE YOUR TIME WATCHING THIS ONE COULD OF REWATCHED A CLASSIC INSTEAD OF THIS,,, ITS JUST GARBAGE!!!!

Milanista90 2012-05-09 13:12:41

The World is a Evil Place

Don't expect to see a happy movie, as this is one of the mostdepressing, and pervasive movies of the decade (and that says a lot). Ishall not reveal any details from the film, as that will diminish theoverall experience of the motion picture, but let's just say that thetitle has a meaning. As far as the technical details go, acting is spoton (Phillipe Seymore Hoffman gives the standout performance of thefilm), as is the directing and the cinematography of the movie. Onceagain, don't expect a feel good movie, because this is the exactopposite of that. Overall, this film is a shattering portrayal of whatevil can do. One of the best films of 2007, and a perfect 10 out of 10.

2012-05-06 18:37:28

Beat The "Devil"

At age 83, Sidney Lumet proves all the nay-sayers wrong who argue with age comes a loss of talent. "Before the Devil Knows You're Dead" is one of Lumet's best films. Two brothers, Hank (Ethan Hawke) and Andy (Philip Seymour Hoffman) decide to rob a jewelry store. Their motives are admittedly cliche. Hank is divorced and behind on his child support. Andy has to maintain a certain lifestyle for his wife (Marisa Tomei). Both of whom claim to only be happy and at peace when on vacation in Brazil. Still despite this cliche idea; one last heist will set us free, Lumet makes sure nothing else is predictable, from whose jewelry store is robbed to the film's climax. In fact that's what hurts the film a little. It has some moments which seem unreal, not believeable. But because the film is directed by Lumet I trust his instincts and feel he won't let the film get carried away with itself. He'll somehow make it all believeable. And to a very large extent, he does! The relationship between the brothers and their relationship with their father feels true. I almost wish the film had spent more time on the relationship between Andy and his father, Charles (Albert Finney). Andy is the older brother, the leader. He is the emotionally strong one whereas Hank is a baby, both in birth order and maturity. Hank is weak and dependent on his brother. Yet Andy has his weak moments as well. He has an emotionally distant relationship with his father. There is one powerful scene where each man apologizes for not being what the other wanted. Hoffman has had a strong year, appearing in three heavily favored films; "The Savages" and "Charlie Wilson's War" but it is his work here which truly touched me. I felt for his character. It is an emotionally complex, roller-coaster character and in my opinion a disgrace he didn't receive an Oscar nomination for his performance here. I know everyone and their brother agrees Daniel Day-Lewis will win for "There Will Be Blood (and his performance does make that film) but Hoffman's performance got to me more. Personally it is my favorite performance of the year because I can relate to this character. But it is not just Hoffman who I feel was wrongly snubbed . Hawke is convincing in his role as is Finney. And where's Lumet's nomination for directing? He orchestrates the film wonderfully. There are certain editing choices I didn't like, the film is told out of sequence, but, he brings out some great performances from his actors. You have to give him credit for that. "Before the Devil Knows You're Dead" was the most draining experience I had at the movies. To call the film a downer is to understate the film. It is unrelenting in its intensity. It just brings you down. But that is not a fault because Lumet remains consistent with the tone. And because of that it is fittingly paced. We slowly become more and more absorbed. I mentioned the film becomes unbelieveable, but, I didn't reveal why I felt the climax is and who they rob. I did that on purpose. I don't think you should know. And if you do know in advance, don't blame me, it's not my fault. The movie works best when you know as little as possible about where the plot will take you. Like a good heist, it's the element of surprise that counts. *** 1\2 out of ***** Bottom-line: One of Sidney Lumet's best films despite some minor flaws. Effectively paced. Lumet gets some strong performances out of his actors.

2012-05-06 04:56:08

unrelentingly grim course to self destruction

Wow, you can't get much worse than this: a family heads towards utter oblivion and it is completely believable. This is nothing short of agony to watch, bringing up the deepest fears that one might feel about the trajectory of one's life. This is on a par with Death of a Salesman, but updated to include drugs and murder. It is an obvious artistic success, though it might give you insomnia and anxiety. If you want to experience these things, I would recommend this film.

smatysia 2012-05-03 22:31:32

Chock full of intensely unlikeable characters

A movie chock full of intensely unlikeable characters. But that's okay.Every film doesn't have to be a syrupy rom-com, or agood-guys-always-win-car-chase-extravaganza. In fact, that's one of thethings that stand out about this film, the way it is sort of theanti-Hollywood. Killer character work by Philip Seymour Hoffman andEthan Hawke, who I've not much cared for before. I certainly didn'tlike his character, but then I wasn't supposed to. Surprisingly, therereally wasn't enough exposition of the strained Hanson familyrelationships, other than the one hugely significant conversation. Oh,and Marissa Tomei looked awesome, even playing a fairly despicablecharacter. She nailed it, just like everyone else. Yes, there may be afew plot holes, and the non-linear time-frame device was a bitirritating, but not nearly as much as in some other films. Definitelyworth checking out if you can stand a non-feel-good movie.

jandacoly 2012-05-03 10:36:11

Downwind from a barnyard

The only reason this film didn't get a zero is because the scale startswith one. I got it because of Hoffman's remarkable performance inCharley Wilson's War, and I find it difficult to believe that an actorof his caliber would associate himself with trash like this. I alsofind it difficult to believe that any screen writer has ever beenexposed to 80 f**ks and 25 s**ts in so short a period of time as thismonstrosity takes to run. 10 minutes was more than enough. At the 30thf**k, with 50 more to go, I quit. The rest of it may have been okay,but with that kind of s**t, I wasn't willing to hang around long enoughto find out.

rob-cordoni 2012-05-01 07:39:50

A Must See Movie!!!

This movie was easily the best movie I've seen in a long time!It had everything you could ask for in a movie. A great plot, andstoryline, suspenseful, kept you wanting to watch it straight throughto the end with no bathroom break. The score was excellent as it reallykept the suspense going strong throughout the entire move.The acting by Tomei and Hoffman, two Oscar winners was very powerful,not to mention the great acting by Ethan Hawke.This movie brought you to places you never thought a movie could takeyou. It was strong from the opening scene right down to the finalscene.It tells a story of how family can turn on one another and theconsequences that lay ahead if that path is taken.I really can't say enough about the wonderful job Sidney Lumet did indirecting and how he just kept it going strong for the full couplehours.All I can say about the storyline is that it takes you to a place nottoo many people can relate to in regards to their family relationships,but it sure is a great ride learning more and more about the maincharacters along the way.I highly recommend this movie as I'm sure that most people that see itwill share a similar opinion as mine.

ne 2012-04-30 10:45:55

A pointless look at the depraved and soul-less.

It kept your attention all the way through, and in that sense this movie did entertain. But after it was over, I really didn't get the point, other than there are some depraved and soul-less people out there. No real redeeming value to the story. It never developed the reasons for why the actors were so depraved: this makes the movie pointless to me.

2012-04-25 09:36:30

Hoffman does it again!

This review is from: Before the Devil Knows You're Dead [Blu-ray] (Blu-ray) hoffman, hawke, tomei! Great cast, Great Story. amazing how far hoffman has come, he is now one of my favs. Tomei looks incredible, and one of hawkes best!

Philip Yomtov 2012-04-24 19:13:37

A true masterpiece!

Sydney Lomet was over 80 years old when he directed this masterpiece.At this age, most people are lucky if they can menage to do theirshopping by themselves and remember where they put their glasses, butthe man is just a genius. The movie to me, is perfect. The story isthrilling, with a lot of surprising twists, it keeps you on the edgeall throughout the movie. The dialogs were realistic and top notch,just like the acting. Philip Hoffman shows once again why he's one ofthe best actors of out generation, and this might've been his bestacting ever (yes, even better than Capote!), he deserved an Oscarnomination for that one (AT LEAST). The film shows that underneath thecalm suburban surface, there are a lot of secrets, and people havetheir dark sides. Hank (Ethen Hawke, who was casted perfectly as theinsecure loser) might be broke, divorced from his wife, and fails topay for his daughter's school yet he has an affair with his brotherAndy's incredibly sexy wife (Marrissa Tomei - wow, she still looksamazing , and we get to see her perfect body naked quite a few times!).His big brother Andy (Hoffman) is a successful mid level executive, yethis marriage is a total mess (and he doesn't care about it), he'sstealing money from his place of work and he has quite a heroinaddiction. You know what the story is all about. The way the film wasedited was great, and the movie would've been just as effective even ifthe time-line was chronological. But the way it was edited (you go backand forth all trhoughout the film) adds a lot, and to me, this might'vebeen the best movie edited this way since Acadamy Award winning"Crash". All the supporting cast do a superior job as well, especiallyAlber Finny (who plays the boys' father). To me, it's a perfect movie,everything about it was flawless, a definite must see.

Brian 2012-04-24 06:20:07

Sick... disgusting.... Garbage from Cesspool

Warning: Spoilers in this reviewLet's see:- Need of money (probably because of drug habit) - check- Decide to rob their PARENT's store - check- Accidentally kill their own mother - check - Revelation of heroin habit with young boy prostitute - check- Head's blowing up with sound effects and pooling of bloodJust more garbage from the cesspool. The female lead naked is beautiful, but beauty in a pile of dung still smells bad.

Rogue-32 2012-04-23 10:53:11

And you thought YOUR family was dysfunctional

Thank God this wasn't based on a true story, because what a story itis. Populated by despicable characters whose depravity knows no bounds,Before The Devil is a mesmerizing, jaw-dropping excursion intoperversion which would be laughable (and sometimes is, even with - orperhaps because of - the sickeningly tragic undercurrent of humandysfunction throughout) if it weren't carried out with suchmagnificent, overwhelming conviction by its stars. The excellent scriptby Kelly Masterson and superb direction by none other than Sidney Lumetdoesn't hurt either.The main dysfunction here is of a family nature, with the two majorlyscrewed up brothers (brilliant portrayals from Philip Seymour Hoffmanand Ethan Hawke) deciding to rob their own parents' jewelry store, anattempt that goes pathetically awry.The story is told with time-shifts (which are noted on screen, such as:"Charlie: Two Days Before The Robbery", so no one should be confused);some people have said they didn't like this device but I thought itworked perfectly, adding to the skeweredness of the whole affair,considering that the two brothers in question are hardly playing withfull decks - between them you couldn't make a decent poker hand to saveyour life. Throw in these cheesy extra tidbits: one of the brothers isa drug addict, married to Gina (Marisa Tomei, also excellent), who ishaving an affair with the other brother, toss in some monumentalsibling rivalry, along with the fact that said drug addict brotherhates his father (a wrenching performance from Albert Finney), who hasapparently caused him serious past pain, and you've got aShakespearean/Greek tragedy on your hands. Proceed with caution.

ruiresende84 2012-04-16 16:42:57

harmonic tragedy

Several things can, and have been praised about this film, on differentlevels. Some are competent, others rather interesting, and another oneabsolutely remarkable.Here we find a top director at the top of his game in what concernsexploiting actors. He pushes where he knows he can and should push, andhe reaches peaks of useful intensity that few other directors are ableto reach. Hoffman is a natural choice for the kind of work Lumet does.He is one of the most focused and self-conscious actors these days, andwhat he does here is as coherent as it is punctuated by eternalmoments. One of those moments (the hysterical breakdown in the car,with Tomei) is absolutely on both actors hands, and Lumet only hadbasically the more expressive moments of each actor. But another sceneis a beautiful collaboration between Lumet and Hoffman: the monologueat the drug dealer's home. There we had a transcending actor, and thedirector of '12 angry men': centered on characters, yet spatial. It isthat space awareness that, to me, makes me go to Lumet's films. Thereis not one single inner set where space isn't taken care of, whether wehave camera movement or not. Notice, it is the character, and not thespace, that determines the movement, the pace, the ton. But the spaceis fully exploited to serve it. I think we have that in some momentswith Antonioni, but no one does it so consistently as Lumet has done itthrough all his career.For more than once, i remarked on how i don't like Ethan Hawke. Hisinterview on the making of of this film underlines the reasons why idon't like him. But i admit he fits well in the melodramatic tapestryLumet created here. Again, like in 'Great Expectations', he is asclueless about anything as his character, but here he understands thepace. I suppose Lumet is to be reckoned for that as well.The other point that interests is how the narrative is shaped. What wehave here comes in the line of what Iñarritu/Arriaga have done,eventually some Figgis' work. It doesn't advance in anyway anything ofwhat they have done, but it is pretty impressive how Lumet acknowledgedthe storytelling evolution and merged his cinematic talent with it.What evolution is that? Basically, it is the consideration of a complexworld in which we don't follow a single line, instead several of them,which intersect, each one with the potential power to affect all theothers. It's a matter of considering the harmony of 3 differentmelodies juxtaposed, instead of just following one of them. That's whatcinema has been doing.My opinion: 4/5 http://www.7eyes.wordpress.com

Robert_Woodward 2012-04-16 04:29:42

Gripping cinema

This is a film that grabs your attention from the very first second.Following a rather explicit opening scene (you'll see) we witness theattempted jewellery-store robbery around which the film is centred.Throughout the two-hour running time the action cuts back and forth intime to paint in events that occur before and after the robbery, whichhas gone horribly awry. Although one might expect the film to stagnatein the middle section, the unusual structure actually works very wellas there is something very compelling about piecing together the grimnarrative for yourself. The non-chronological sequencing of eventsmeans that new details are always being added or revised.The scene of the robbery which opens the film is astonishingly tenseand unravels in a shocking way. Despite the film cutting abruptly backand forth in time to paint in new details the plot does not becomeblurred and confused. The fortunes of the two brothers, played withgreat intensity by Hoffman and Hawke, grow ever darker as the filmunfolds. Many of the best sections of the film feature both Hoffman andHawke bantering, plotting, arguing, panicking. The final scenes sharedbetween the two as their lives fall apart are simply explosive. Thereare some other fine performances in this film, notably involving thefather played by Albert Finney, whose wrecked relationship with Andy(the elder son played by Hoffman) is a compelling strand in the plotline. On the other hand, the portrayal of Andy's wife, Gina, isridiculously one-dimensional. This seems unfortunate in that there areno other female characters afforded the same prominence.This is, however, a minor quibble and does not significantly detractfrom the appeal of the grimly powerful story, which is frequented bythe stirring theme tune and, fittingly, a great deal of lower-registerpiano notes.

HoldOp 2012-04-10 07:01:11

Comic, not tragic

Juat watched it on DVD.Starts out promising and gets worse...and worse...and worse. What isclearly intended to be a modern day Greek tragedy ends up tragic-comicand loaded with clichés. And did we really have to see Marisa Tomeibeing humped doggy style by Seymour Hoffman? Gross. She's wasted inthis thankless role.But it's Seymour Hoffman and Hawke who each get an award for DumbestBrothers and Biggest Screw Ups of All Time". Now, Shakespeare couldhave done something interesting with that - in a comedy or tragedy. Instead we have a playwright named Masterson who somehow got his firstscreenplay produced and who is desperately trying to be deep yet endsup embarrassing himself. I actually laughed out loud a few times anddidn't care one bit for the characters.Sidney Lumet has made some classic films - he should have passed onthis project and so should everyone else.P.S. Finney's open mouth and bulging eyes throughout much of the filmwas incredibly annoying.

gregjoffe 2012-04-09 11:23:44

This movie wasted 2.5 hours of my life

I can't believe the reviews above praising the movie. Yes, the actingis great - but the story is terrible. It plods on, trying to emulateTarantino with the switching time sequencing, and remakes Blood Simplewhich was better, more challenging to watch and more importantly -ORIGINAL. None of the characters are likable or redeem themselves inany way.I am supposed to write 10 lines, but it is not worth adding much more,other than to say I regret wasting my time seeing it when there were somany other more interesting things to do with the short space of timealloted to me (either in this life or tonight because we had ababysitter - depending whether you want to take a macro or micro viewof the loss).