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MOVIES / ON DVD / BEFORE THE DEVIL KNOWS YOU'RE DEAD
Before the Devil Knows You're Dead

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Before the Devil Knows You're Dead (2007)

88%
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75%
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88 %
Reviews Counted: 142 Fresh: 125  Rotten:17 Average Rating: 7.7/10
 
Consensus: A triumphant return to form for Sidney Lumet. A tense and effective thriller, Before the Devil Knows You're Dead marks a triumphant return to form for director Sidney Lumet. more
 
Rated: 15
Runtime: 2 hrs 3 mins
Theatrical Release: 11-01-2008
Synopsis:
From the unexpectedly graphic opening shot, director Sidney Lumet proves he hasn't lost any of his bite with age. BEFORE THE DEVIL KNOWS YOU'RE DEAD is a riveting suspense thriller that retains the director's classic approach to storytelling while updating it at the same time. Working from... [More]
From the unexpectedly graphic opening shot, director Sidney Lumet proves he hasn't lost any of his bite with age. BEFORE THE DEVIL KNOWS YOU'RE DEAD is a riveting suspense thriller that retains the director's classic approach to storytelling while updating it at the same time. Working from an intense, expertly woven script by playwright-turned-screenwriter Kelly Masterson, Lumet establishes his tragic tone immediately. The story concerns a New York family with a roiling undercurrent of dysfunction. The eldest son, Andy (Philip Seymour Hoffman), is a frustrated, drug-abusing stockbroker who is unable to satisfy his gorgeous wife (Marisa Tomei). The youngest son, Hank (Ethan Hawke), is passive and struggles to make alimony payments. Their parents (Albert Finney and Rosemary Harris) live in Westchester and operate a small jewelry store. Their lives begin to unravel when Andy approaches Hank about pulling off a heist that will seemingly solve all of their monetary problems. Everything about this idea is risky, yet Andy convinces his timid younger brother that this is his only way out of his current situation. Naturally, their plan falls apart, resulting in a series of tragedies that they never could have predicted. BEFORE THE DEVIL KNOWS YOU'RE DEAD belongs beside such Lumet classics as DOG DAY AFTERNOON, NETWORK, and SERPICO. The cinematography and editing and score are all excellent, but the performances are what launch the film into the stratosphere. Oscar-winner Hoffman (CAPOTE) and Finney have never been better, and the rest of the cast--Hawke, Tomei, Michael Shannon--rise to the occasion with unforgettable results. [Less]

Genre: Drama, Family Interaction, Thriller, Infidelity, Theatrical Release, Brothers, Affairs

Starring: Philip Seymour Hoffman, Ethan Hawke, Marisa Tomei, Albert Finney, Rosemary Harris

Director: Sidney Lumet
Screenwriter: Kelly Masterson
Producer: Michael Cerenzie, Brian Linse, Paul Parmar, William S. Gilmore
Composer: Carter Burwell

DVD Info

Release:

Mar 4, 2009

[DVD Details]

DVD Features:

  • Anamorphic Widescreen - 1.85

Audio:

  • Dolby Digital 5.1 - English
  • Subtitles - English, Spanish - Optional

Additional Release Materials:

  • Audio Commentary - Sidney Lumet - Director; Philip Seymour Hoffman, Ethan Hawke - Stars
  • Behind the Scenes - Making Of
  • Trailers - Theatrical Trailer

Reviews

 
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1 - 20 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
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Full Review | Comment
01/15/08 03:15 AM
BBC
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In its relentless and uncompromising nastiness, cold-sweat tension and fear, its serious engagement with the idea of evil and sin and finally in the way it evolves, persuasively, into a kind of contemporary family tragedy, this is in a different league.

Full Review | Comment
01/11/08 08:38 AM
Peter Bradshaw
Guardian [UK]
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If you want a quality crime caper, then this is for you.

Full Review | Comment
01/11/08 07:43 AM
Sun Online
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Hoffman’s reliably superb while Albert Finney, as the lads’ father, is as good as he’s ever been.

Full Review | Comment
01/11/08 07:23 AM
David Edwards
Daily Mirror [UK]
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A crime melodrama that takes risks with characterisation and narrative structure, but ends up as awkward, indulgent and hard to like as its main protagonists.

Full Review | Comment
01/11/08 04:36 AM
Daniel Etherington
Channel 4 Film
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Lumet doesn’t damn himself, but it’s hardly cinema heaven. Hoffman, Hawke and Finney claw strong moments out of an underwhelming script, but for some the only thing that’ll stick is Marisa Tomei with her kit off.

Full Review | Comment
01/11/08 04:03 AM
Ceri Thomas
Total Film
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Superior fare, packed with insight and suspense.

Full Review | Comment
01/11/08 03:56 AM
Geoff Andrew
Time Out
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Veteran director Sidney Lumet (Serpico, Dog Day Afternoon) shows he's no slouch at 83 when it comes to crafting first-class thrillers with a pitch black core.

Full Review | Comment
01/11/08 03:50 AM
Tim Evans
Sky Movies
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Bleak, brutal and quite possibly brilliant, this is a triumphant return to form for Lumet and further proof that Hoffman is on an incredible winning streak.

Full Review | Comment
01/11/08 03:15 AM
Helen OHara
Empire Magazine
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Impressively directed by Sidney Lumet (he's 83, you know), this is a thoroughly gripping thriller with a strong script and terrific performances from its two leads.

Full Review | Comment
01/10/08 03:15 AM
Matthew Turner
ViewLondon
Ratings Image

At age 83, Lumet proves he's at the top of his game with this expertly directed melodramatic thriller, relentlessly teasing us with a twisty story and provocative characters.

Full Review | Comment
11/22/07 03:15 AM
Rich Cline
Shadows on the Wall
Ratings Image

Director Sidney Lumet digs deep into the tawdry souls, peeling back the layers of arrogance and anger and self-delusion until all that's left is fury and fear and hate.

Full Review | Comment
05/03/08 01:10 PM
Sean Axmaker
MSN.com
Ratings Image

Before the Devil Knows You're Dead won't do much for anyone's feelings about human nature, but it will definitely restore your faith in gritty crime movies.

Full Review | Comment
05/01/08 04:56 PM
Alonso Duralde
MSNBC
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This would be a vigorous film for a man of any age, but it's a special treat from our favorite octogenarian.

Full Review | Comment
04/21/08 01:01 AM
Peter Canavese
Groucho Reviews
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Marisa's bored and frustrated sexpot trophy wife is pretty much kept around in the movie just for occasional guy sexual satisfaction, in Sid Lumet's human cesspool of murky madness.

Full Review | Comment
04/19/08 05:55 AM
Prairie Miller
NewsBlaze
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This masterfully-crafted, multi-layered murder mystery proves that the legendary Sidney Lumet hasn't lost his edge, despite being well into his eighties.

Full Review | Comment
04/13/08 08:39 AM
Kam Williams
NewsBlaze
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Conceptually bold and unnervingly suspenseful, Before the Devil Knows You're Dead is one of the best films Lumet has directed in a very long and at times uneven career.

Full Review | Comment
03/19/08 10:03 PM
David Stratton
At the Movies
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A marvellous film, filled with tension, drama and emotional angst

Full Review | Comment
03/16/08 08:42 PM
Urban Cinefile Critics
Urban Cinefile
Ratings Image

Even though the story plays out nonlinearly, the intensity surges up a straight slope. This would seem impossible if not for the masterful screenplay by first-timer Kelly Masterson and deft direction by Sidney Lumet.

Full Review | Comment
02/16/08 10:54 AM
Karina Montgomery
Cinerina
Ratings Image

Marked by hammy performances and outlandish revelations, Sidney Lumet's film can barely hold a candle to his greatest work.

Full Review | Comment
01/29/08 08:40 PM
Wesley Lovell
Oscar Guy
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