Official Synopsis:
Master filmmaker Sidney Lumet (The Verdict, Dog Day Afternoon, Serpico) scores big with this absorbing suspense thriller. Oscar-winner* Philip Seymour Hoffman is Andy, an overextended payroll executive who lures his younger brother, Hank (Ethan Hawke), into a larcenous scheme: the pair will rob a suburban mom-and-pop jewelry store that appears to be the quintessential easy target. The problem is, the store owners are Andy and Hank's real mom and pop, and when the seemingly perfect crime goes awry, the damage sends them hurtling toward a shattering climax.
  
Our Take:
“And when the seemingly perfect crime goes awry, the damage sends them hurtling toward a shattering climax.”

Excuse me, but where exactly is the shattering climax? I really want to know, because I absolutely loved this movie until it ended with a complete lack of a climax. The first part of that statement above couldn’t be more true and it’s the reason I was loving Before The Devil Knows You’re Dead so much. It’s amazing to watch as this family unravels all because of the simplest, smallest crime gone wrong.

The character work here is brilliant, which you can kind of expect from a Sidney Lumet film (when he’s working with good material, at least). Everyone’s always talking about Phillip Seymour Hoffman and it’s all well-deserved, but Ethan Hawke turns in yet another tortured performance that he’s always overlooked for. It’s a shame, but at least I (if no one else, it seems) can see the amazing work he’s done over the years. Even Marisa Tomei, who got a lot of buzz for this film, managed to escape any major praise.

A lot of people seem to have a lot of complaints about the non-linear timeline in the film. Honestly, I just don’t think you cold have gotten as much information across with as much emotion as is given here without structuring the film like it is. It doesn’t jump around in time to confuse or disjoint the moviegoer; it’s done so that we can gain every bit of information about this family and watch as they completely crumble from every possible angle.

Special features include:

* Commentary with Sidney Lumet, Ethan Hawke, and Philip Seymour Hoffman.

* Directed By Sidney Lumet: How The Devil Was Made (24 minutes) – This feature starts out discussing the script and moves all the way through production. Lumet had some very nice things to say about the process of filmmaking as well as how he viewed this film as a melodrama and not a caper film.

Really, Before The Devil Knows You’re Dead is an excellently paced film…until it ends. There’s nothing drastically wrong with the ending; in fact, if it hadn’t ended where it did, it would have been an excellent scene in the film, but as it is, the film does end there, which hurts the picture overall. It left me feeling like I didn’t watch an entire movie; like I had to hit stop one day and never got around to finishing it. And that’s not how I like to enjoy a movie.

Overall Picture:
Movie: B
DVD: B

- Landen Chase Pelish
Staff Writer