Before the Devil Knows You're Dead (2007)

Featured Audience Ratings

• Josh M

  
  Before the Devil... is a gripping melodrama, the last film directed by a true American master, then 83 year old Sidney Lumet. It has a terrific script in the classic film noir vein, a stellar cast, it's filmed with precision and intensity, and is full of truth and is never… More
  Before the Devil... is a gripping melodrama, the last film directed by a true American master, then 83 year old Sidney Lumet. It has a terrific script in the classic film noir vein, a stellar cast, it's filmed with precision and intensity, and is full of truth and is never predictable. The story of brothers, both at the end of their ropes financially and personally, who are driven to pull off a heist (they are not professional crooks) on the jewelry shop of their own parents. After the heist goes terribly wrong, things spin further and further out of control. What is amazing is that just as you think things can't get worse for the boys, it keeps going further and further downhill, to almost unbearable levels. Phillip Seymore Hoffman is the mastermind behind the operation, in a failing marriage with Marisa Tomei, addicted to heroin, having stolen from his company and living in a world of hurt. His brother, Ethan Hawke, ostensibly even more of a loser, is a divorced dad owing months of alimony to his angry ex (Amy Ryan) and sleeping with his brother's wife. Rosemary Harris and Albert Finney are the parents, who have more love for each other than for their ne'er do well sons. Look out for up and comer Michael Shannon as a sleazy blackmailer and the excellent Brian O'Byrne who is the dupe who is enlisted to pull off the heist. All are excellent, but I'd like to single out the tragic, surprising performance of the great Albert Finney as a confilcted, flawed, and angry patriarch. Tomei is great (looking, too she's often naked) but the script gives her less depth than the other characters. Hawke and Hoffman are the core of the film, and both do excellent, if characteristic work. Hoffman plays a bit more of an evil cad then he normally plays, and Hawke is his character in Training Day, gone sweaty and middle aged. The extreme elements set up by the script are hugely over the top, but it works, because of the supremely committed, intense and true acting and the total believability of the identifably banal settings (Westchester county and NYC) and the flawed human characters. The film has similarities to Lumet's Dog Day Afternoon, but it has much more melodrama, in the most positive spin of that word. This film stands in the Lumet canon alongside Dog Day, Network, Serpico, and 12 Angry Men, and does not seem like the work of an octagenarian. It's well worth your time.

• Melvin W

  
  "No one was supposed to get hurt" It was supposed to go down perfect. It was supposed to be easy. But robberies never end up being as perfect as they are supposed to be. Before The Devil Knows You're Dead is another example of that. Hell, Lumet has done a robbery gone… More
  "No one was supposed to get hurt" It was supposed to go down perfect. It was supposed to be easy. But robberies never end up being as perfect as they are supposed to be. Before The Devil Knows You're Dead is another example of that. Hell, Lumet has done a robbery gone wrong before with Dog Day Afternoon. Before The Devil Knows You're Dead is a great movie and a great ending to Lumet's career. The film is done out of order, which can sometimes seem cheap and gimmicky. Here it doesn't. Everything works well in the order that Lumet wanted it to be shown. We see how the robbery went down in the second scene. From there we don't know where the story is going to go. It's unpredictable and that's what I loved about it. It wasn't a movie where you had a good idea what was going to happen in the next scene. I had no idea and that not knowing kept me in suspense for the entire film. The film obviously has a talented director behind it with one of the best in the business, Sidney Lumet. The man is a complete genius. He brought us such classics as Network and Dog Day Afternoon. The movie also has one of my favorite actors in it and that would be Philip Seymour Hoffman. He's a terrific actor and he's as good as ever in his role here. He plays an out of control character perfectly. Another actor who I can take or leave, Ethan Hawke, gives probably is best performance. I wouldn't have thought he could pull a character like Hank off, but he does convincingly. If the movie has a flaw it would be that one of the characters isn't completely wrapped up in the end. We don't know what happens to him in the end. Maybe we don't really need to know because the ideas of the movie are wrapped up. We see where greed, recklessness and bad decisions got the characters in the end and I believe that everything that we needed to see, we saw.  This is probably my third favorite Lumet movie behind Dog Day Afternoon and Running On Empty. The man really did have an extraordinary career. I think him making a final masterpiece with Before The Devil... is quite fitting. 

• ♥Robyn

  
  Before the Devil Knows You're Dead is a psychological crime thriller,families dont come much more dysfunctional than the Hansons~! It is the story of (Hoffman) and Nick (Ethan Hawke), two brothers who decide to rob their parents (Albert Finney and Rosemary Harris) jewelry shop… More
  Before the Devil Knows You're Dead is a psychological crime thriller,families dont come much more dysfunctional than the Hansons~! It is the story of (Hoffman) and Nick (Ethan Hawke), two brothers who decide to rob their parents (Albert Finney and Rosemary Harris) jewelry shop to get some much needed cash, It is insured, Andy assures his doubtful brother, and they know the shop,so he thinks It will be the perfect crime they are in for a rude awakening. The robbery goes wrong and the two spend the rest of the film dodging all of the many complications which inevitably pop up , affairs, drugs, anger, thugs, betrayal... it goes on and on. There are a multitude of plot twists.. i thought it was a good movie with a good cast.

• ♥˩ƳИИ &

  
  Cast: Philip Seymour Hoffman, Ethan Hawke, Albert Finney, Rosemary Harris, Marisa Tomei, Arija Bareikis, Paul Butler, Jack Fitz, Alex Emanuel Director: Sidney Lumet Summary: The perfect crime goes horribly wrong for brothers Andy (Philip Seymour Hoffman) and Hank (Ethan Hawke)… More
  Cast: Philip Seymour Hoffman, Ethan Hawke, Albert Finney, Rosemary Harris, Marisa Tomei, Arija Bareikis, Paul Butler, Jack Fitz, Alex Emanuel Director: Sidney Lumet Summary: The perfect crime goes horribly wrong for brothers Andy (Philip Seymour Hoffman) and Hank (Ethan Hawke) when they botch a robbery of their parents' jewelry store. My Thoughts: "The concept of the movie was fresh, and I liked how it played out with all the flash backs. But it was just to slow for me. Great acting by all. But what a waste of Marisa Tomei. Most of her (if not all) time on screen was spent with her in bed with one of the brothers. Waste of talent. Liked to have seen her with a bigger part, considering she was one of my reasons for watching the film. In the end it was well made but just OK for me."

• Daniel P

  
  What Lumet has given us here is a beautifully shot and terrifyingly well-acted film. There are two problems with it: it's plodding, and it features Marisa Tomei. There was a time I defended her against her many haters - she's a capable actress - but here more than in many… More
  What Lumet has given us here is a beautifully shot and terrifyingly well-acted film. There are two problems with it: it's plodding, and it features Marisa Tomei. There was a time I defended her against her many haters - she's a capable actress - but here more than in many other roles, she little more than her breasts. Is it just me, or are they getting a little ubiquitous... I'm thinking of The Wrestler, as well... But this was to be a review of a movie, not a rack (haha). Philip Seymour Hoffman may be the best living actor. In this film, he runs through an incredible range of emotions (tiny spoiler) from high on heroin to blinded by rage to smooth talking manipulator to grieving son to jilted husband (not necessarily in that order). His performance is nearly matched by the slightly overcompensating Ethan Hawke and the surprisingly badass Albert Finney. The colours and the lighting made the visuals incredible, and the non-linear style did jazz up a somewhat formulaic plot, but in my book this film gets high marks because it's more than a caper-gone-wrong flick, it's art. Jeez, kind of reminds of this other movie I've seen... Dog Day Something-or-other... it was directed by this guy Sidney... uh... Lumet, I believe it was? Totally worth sitting through. Dark, daring and desperate film-making with characters to match. Highly recommend.

• Albert K

  
  A riveting crazy movie. There are a ridiculous amount of flaws in this movie, but the performances are top-notch. I greatly recommend this movie.

• Coxxie M

  
  acting is so solid. i am such a hoffman fan now. jsut wish they didnt use the same gimmicky flashback thing that vantage point used. no film should remind people of that turd.

• E.J. B

  
  There is no doubt in my mind that Sidney Lumet's latest effort ranks alongside 12 Angry Men, The Verdict, Dog Day Afternoon, and Serpico. There is so much that is great about this film it would be hard to talk about in one paragraph. I will be completely brief. The acting:… More
  There is no doubt in my mind that Sidney Lumet's latest effort ranks alongside 12 Angry Men, The Verdict, Dog Day Afternoon, and Serpico. There is so much that is great about this film it would be hard to talk about in one paragraph. I will be completely brief. The acting: Philip Seymour Hoffman, Marisa Tomei, and Albert Finney are as good as they've ever been. Ethan Hawke holds his own right beside these top notch actors. There are so many scenes that could be studied in acting schools to show the craft at its best. The directing: Lumet gives a sense of style that rings similar to Danny Boyle and Guy Ritchie, although he manages to weave a sombre, classical Hollywood melodrama through this style. very impressive! The action: Minimalist yet effective. In a year that also saw the release of No Country for Old Men, Juno, Once, and There Will Be Blood, it's hard to rank Before the Devil Knows Your Dead above these masterpieces. But any other year and this would have been at the top of my list!

• Lewis C

  
  Before 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… More
  Before 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 resulting because the poor relationships between father and son, husband and wife, and father and daughter. There may be a crime at the center of the plot, but it's never really the movie's focus. The acting is as good as you expect. Seeing Hoffman and Tomei in the same movie was a treat, because they are two of my favorite people in Hollywood. There are no weak spots in the cast to think of. And the re-occuring theme music that plays from time to time in key scenes? Awesome. Much of the movie moves at a slightly subdued pace, and I'm sure there are people who won't care for that. But when an intense scene does happen, you won't be able to look away.

• Lenny M

  
  Non-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… More
  Non-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 expressions are weeeirrd. Ethan Hawke makes some bizarre noises, and Marisa Tomei is always getting naked. Sidney's lost it!

• Drew S

  
  Oh, 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… More
  Oh, 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 shitty editing trick. Sidney Lumet probably watched a bunch of new movies and decided that chronological fuckery was the easiest way to modernize his material, which could have been made in 1975 and no one would have noticed. The critical rapture over this movie frankly stuns me and I think that a lot of people were just poised to herald a RETURN TO FORM!!! for Mister Lumet. Also, I think this movie came at a time when public and critical fondness for Philip Seymour Hoffman was hitting a fever pitch, which may have sharpened the enthusiasm. I've since learned that I just don't care for him in what I've seen. He has, to my knowledge, exactly one good performance (The Savages) and in everything else he plays the same emasculated, Napoleonic sap. Anyone who will listen also knows my overwhelming hatred for Ethan Hawke. I choose to just perpetually associate him in my mind to Jesse from Before Sunrise/Sunset and then I'm not so angry. I've never seen Tomei in much but I think she's an interesting presence here, and though the movie is ultimately not concerned with her, it would also be weaker if she wasn't there. Unfortunately, her performance is wasted on what is one step above a stock character, just as the rest of these are. Chock full of ready-made daddy issues and fits of insecurity, we're somehow supposed to care that this fucked-up, uninteresting, unlikable family is devouring itself whole. It's more or less like watching a highbrow episode of Jerry Springer; entertaining on a primal level, but still base and obnoxious and furiously empty.

• Lady D

  
  An 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 angle for… More
  An 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 angle for the ?robbery? theme films and one that just got better and better as it went on.

• Cassandra M

  
  Watching 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 one… More
  Watching 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 one of those films that has stayed with me, and I continue to ponder and think about it. Surely the DVD would illuminate some more of the themes and the film-making elements? Which include: Sidney Lumet's comeback movie, the time-shifting technique deployed in the storytelling, the superb combination of Lumet and Masterson and why it works so well, the masterly direction, the relatively rare focus Hollywood movies give to male characters and their largely doomed struggle to become an open cheque book for their women, the under-presented, but nevertheless resonant Marisa Tomei's performance, and, of course, the superb Hoffman with that central monologue about the sum of his parts - for me the heart of the movie. Phew! Surely a masterful film. So imagine my disappointment watching the eagerly anticipated DVD - only to find no commentary, no behind-the-scenes, no interviews, no extras. Hey - distributors - sort it out!

• James A

  
  good acting with an ok story. At least now I know what Hoffman looks like naked.

• Saskia D

  
  Any movie with Hoffman is worth a shot, and shit, so is this one! I guess this is how fast and easy shit can hit the fan! And boy, does it! Great script, great characters, interesting opening scene ;p <div style="width:1600px;"><a… More
  Any movie with Hoffman is worth a shot, and shit, so is this one! I guess this is how fast and easy shit can hit the fan! And boy, does it! Great script, great characters, interesting opening scene ;p <div style="width:1600px;"><a href="http://www.flixster.com/actor/ethan-hawke-photos/before-the-devil-knows-youre-dead-11026098"><img src="http://content8.flixster.com/photo/11/02/60/11026098_gal.jpg" border="0"/></a><div style="text-align:center;font-size:10px;"><a href="http://www.flixster.com">

• A.D. V

  
  Drawn-out and depressing drama with unlikeable characters caught in a downward spiral of misery and bad luck.

• paul s

  
  Oddly compelling, as the film switches times and perspectives. From the opening graphic sex shot, the tone is set - I kept thinking that this opening was actually going to be the closing as well, but, as with the rest of this film, things don't work out the way you pictured it.… More
  Oddly compelling, as the film switches times and perspectives. From the opening graphic sex shot, the tone is set - I kept thinking that this opening was actually going to be the closing as well, but, as with the rest of this film, things don't work out the way you pictured it. For a twisted robbery caper, this film has a lot of charactor development and what it shows of human nature isn't pretty. That the robbing of their parent's jewelry store is not the most outrageous thing that happens is a pretty scary commentary on the culture of greed we are now so familiar with (Hoffman's charactor could easily be a bank ceo). All the charactors fall so easily into their own traps, doing whatever it takes (and morality be damned) just to keep themselves functioning - all the while flailing against the constraints that are, for the most part, part and parcel of their own doing. I loved the scene where the seedy fence laughs at Albert Finney's moral superiority as he then reveals the depths of dishonor Finney's own son is capable of, voicing the message of the tale "you'd be surprised what a person will do for money". Yes, I was indeed.

• First L

  
  A tightly written, well-acted film that's filled with the impending doom of it's characters. Hoffman plays an accountant who's embezzling money in order to fuel a drug habit. He schemes to get solvent by robbing his parents' jewelry store. Things start going… More
  A tightly written, well-acted film that's filled with the impending doom of it's characters. Hoffman plays an accountant who's embezzling money in order to fuel a drug habit. He schemes to get solvent by robbing his parents' jewelry store. Things start going downhill for him though, when he incorporates his loser brother (Hawke) into his plan. The brother isn't just a loser, he's a major screw-up, and he manages to botch the robbery to a devastating degree. Certain Hitchcockian elements are employed as we watch the characters get deeper and deeper into trouble, and this is where the movie shines. Watching Hoffman unravel onscreen is terrifying and eerily reminiscent of Orson Welles portrayal in "Citizen Kane" (especially the apartment smashing scene). But while the movie is well-written, it uses flashbacks to tell the story and at times, it moves a little too slow; it's hard to tell a compelling story when you've given away all the facts in the first 10 minutes. Also, it's hard to place yourself in the characters' predicament when all the characters are so unsympathetic. Albert Finney as the dad wears a frightening grimace for most of the movie, and his character's resolution isn't as neat as the filmmakers probably thought it was (this is a case where even though it's not the happy hollywood ending, it is kind of cliched, and if they had gone the other direction with it, it would've been more real to me), but on the other hand, it's hard to complain about it. "Before The Devil Knows You're Dead" may not be unique or wholly original, but it is a decent and well-made movie.

• Josh L

  
  Starts off great and about half way through it just slowly starting getting worse. The fractured storytelling I wasn't a big fan of. The last 15 minutes were ridiculous. I liked the performances though.

• Chris W

  
  This film proves that, in his 80's, legendary director Sidney Lumet still has what it takes to make an incredible and powerful film. The film is a minor masterpiece, since it is not perfect, but quite close nonetheless. The acting is incredible. The performers disappear into… More
  This film proves that, in his 80's, legendary director Sidney Lumet still has what it takes to make an incredible and powerful film. The film is a minor masterpiece, since it is not perfect, but quite close nonetheless. The acting is incredible. The performers disappear into their roles and are very convincing. I mentioned that the acting is incredible, but I should clarify that some of the supporting roles do leave something to be desired. This is not a happy film, or even that easy to watch at times, but it earns it's place in the 'crime doesn't pay' subgenre of crime dramas. Check this one out, it's something else.

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