Ethan Hawke, Albert Finney, Marisa Tomei
When two brothers organize the robbery of their parents' jewelery store the job goes horribly wrong, triggering a series of events that sends them, their father and one brother's wife hurtling towards...( read more
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DVD Release Date: March 4, 2008
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Stats: 7,945 reviews
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Flixster Reviews (7,945)
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October 27, 2009Before the Devil Knows You're dead is a movie about misery and bad decisions. Misery leads to more misery, and bad decisions made because of misery, that in turn lead to even more misery.
The specific kind of misery involved here is the brand unique to families. Misery resultin...( read more) -
October 10, 2009Non-linear story telling making a mess of a crazy plot, time shifts are constant as the scenes change like a Tarantino flick. Eerie and depressing conclusions but the cast and performances are excellent. Family destroys itself in this film, terrible. Albert Finney's facial exp...( read more)
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September 5, 2009Oh, I didn't really care for this one. The casting is desperately unimaginative (Hawke is a spineless crybaby, PSH yells a lot and is stressed, Marisa Tomei is an inconsequential sexpot) and the narrative is interlaced with hilariously bad ~flashbacks~, denoted with a hilariously...( read more)
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July 12, 2009An extremely surprising find with possibly Ethan Hawke?s best performance to date, plus great performances from both Phillip Seymour Hoffman and Albert Finney. The flashbacks are a tad tiresome at times, but the editing of them are very clever in the storytelling. A unique angl...( read more)
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April 28, 2009Watching Before The Devil counts as one of my all time best experiences at the cinema. I have been intrigued my the mixed response to the film - and for me, the extremes of opinion indicate the film touched on something either embraced or disavowed by the general audience. It is ...( read more)
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November 19, 2009EXTRAORDINARY ACTING BY THE GREAT P.S.HOFFMAN.
TERRIFIC CASTING. CHECK FOR MICHAEL SHANNON.
IN THE GOOD TRADITION OF A SIDNEY LUMET MOVIE. -
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November 4, 2009this is like emotional rollercoaster for me.,
superb crime, superb drama, and brilliant screenplay.,
i wouldn't say much about it, just go and watch this superb movie.. -
November 1, 2009The last movie directed by the great Sidney Lumet. Two brothers plan to knock off their parents jewlery store and everything goes wrong. Strong performances by Albert Finney and Phillip Seymour Hoffman. Shown in fragmens as the pieces of this crime and this family's lives and ...( read more)
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October 30, 2009Talk about a dyfunctional family!!!! This was the most messed up movie Ive EVER seen.Usually in movies things start off bad for the characters & end up good but this movie went from bad to worse for everybody
Critic Reviews
November 15, 2007
Colin Covert, The Minneapolis Star Tribune
November 2, 2007
Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle
An invigorating, refreshing and unusual thing to see one done so expertly. full review
November 2, 2007
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times
Sidney Lumet's Before the Devil Knows You're Dead is such a superb crime melodrama that I almost want to leave it at that. To just stop writing right now and advise you to go out and see it as soon as... full review
November 1, 2007
Claudia Puig, USA Today
A sharply acted and highly entertaining morality play. full review
October 26, 2007
Pete Hammond, Maxim
It has been exactly 50 years since Sidney Lumet made his first movie but let's hope on the basis of this shattering edge-of-your-seat stuff that he hasn't made his last. full review
October 26, 2007
A.O. Scott, The New York Times
Before the Devil Knows You're Dead is a chronicle of destruction -- physical, spiritual and moral.
October 24, 2007
Armond White, The New York Press
Lumet tries getting back to the outrageous satirical mode of Network and Just Tell Me What You Want, but this family dysfunction story fails the classic requirements of social critique. full review
October 22, 2007
David Edelstein, New York Magazine
[Sidney Lumet's] touch in Before the Devil is so sure, so perfectly weighted, that it's hard to imagine him capable of making a bad movie. full review
October 18, 2007
Peter Travers, Rolling Stone
Working with the startlingly talented new screenwriter Kelly Masterson, Lumet fuses dark wit, suspense and tragedy into a time-shifting movie that vibrates with energy. full review
Comments
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April 20, 2008Well written and acted movie about 2 greedy brothers stealing from their family's business. A movie with a lot of flashbacks that gives you the fit the pieces of the puzzle kind of movie. Also this was the perfect example why these parents should have given their boys up for adoption when they were born. I think the ending could have been more explanatory regarding one of the characters.
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