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Before the Devil Knows You're Dead (2007)
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Reviews Counted:156
Fresh:137
Rotten:19
Average Rating:7.7/10
Consensus: A tense and effective thriller, Before the Devil Knows You're Dead marks a triumphant return to form for director Sidney Lumet.
Rated: 15 [See Full Rating] for a scene of strong graphic sexuality, nudity, violence, drug use and language.
Runtime: 2 hrs 3 mins
Genre: Family Interaction, Thriller, Infidelity, Theatrical Release, Brothers, Affairs
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... 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. [More]
Starring: Philip Seymour Hoffman, Ethan Hawke, Marisa Tomei, Albert Finney
Starring: Philip Seymour Hoffman, Ethan Hawke, Marisa Tomei, Albert Finney, Rosemary Harris, Michael Shannon
Director: Sidney Lumet
Director: Sidney Lumet
Screenwriter: Kelly Masterson
Producer: Michael Cerenzie, Brian Linse, Paul Parmar, William S. Gilmore
Composer: Carter Burwell
Studio: ThinkFilm
Reviews for Before the Devil Knows You're Dead
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.
Hoffman’s reliably superb while Albert Finney, as the lads’ father, is as good as he’s ever been.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Suspense and action would be enough to seal this film, but the feeling of dread, that under different circumstances this could be us, makes this a heist picture for the ages.
Lumet proves he's still a master storyteller, and Philip Seymour Hoffman is fantastic.
Lumet's latest film, Before the Devil Knows You're Dead is an unpleasant film with unpleasant characters. It would be easy to dismiss, if it weren't directed by maestro Sidney Lumet. But the movie is labored and repetitive.
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