Caught up in an adulterous affair with his brother Andy\u2019s wife (Marisa Tomei), Hank (Ethan Hawke) digs himself into a deep hole when he agrees to rob a mom-&-pop jewelry store at Andy\u2019s insistence. Hank\u2019s pressing financial problems are nothing compared to the spiraling trouble he gets in when the robbery goes bad, since the jewelry store in question belongs to Hank\u2019s and Andy\u2019s parents. Director Sidney Lumet (“Dog Day Afternoon”) twists suspense around terrific ensemble performances in screenwriter Kelly Masterson\u2019s character-driven crime thriller that is at turns sexy, hilarious and devastating. Philip Seymour Hoffman is outstanding as the cunning Andy, and Albert Finney priceless as the father whose sons betray him. The title comes from an Irish saying, “May you be in heaven half an hour before the devil knows you’re dead.” 50 years ago Sidney Lumet directed his first film, the courtroom drama \u201c12 Angry Men.\u201d It earned Lumet his first Academy Award nomination for directing, though he lost to the great David Lean for \u201cBridge on the River Kwai.\u201d Since then, Lumet has been nominated for directing three more times (\u201cDog Day Afternoon,\u201d \u201cNetwork\u201d and \u201cThe Verdict\u201d). Some of his other films include \u201cSerpico,\u201d \u201cEquus,\u201d \u201cThe Wiz\u201d, \u201cPrince of the City\u201d (for which he was Oscar nominated for co-writing the screenplay) and \u201cRunning on Empty.\u201d He finally received an honorary Oscar in 2005. Now, five decades after he started, Lumet should earn directing nomination number five with \u201cBefore the Devil Knows You\u2019re Dead.\u201d With so many \u201cdirectors\u201d making movies today, it is inspiring to see a master like Lumet, still going strong at the young age of 83, leave most of them in the dust. Lumet has always been able to tell a story like nobody else, and here he produces some of his greatest work ever. By showing the robbery in the opening few minutes, and then piecing together the film with flashback, Lumet shows a masters\u2019 touch behind the camera. And he has chosen a cast that is more than equal to the task at hand. Hoffman, in his first true lead role since winning the Oscar for \u201cCapote,\u201d is a bull of a man, a walking ball of furious energy. If I had to compare him to more familiar actors, it would be Lee J. Cobb or Brian Denehey. In fact, I can see him in another ten years (he just turned 40) following those actors in the role of Willie Loman in \u201cDeath of a Salesman\u201d. Hawke is his equal here, showing a range only hinted at in \u201cTraining Day.\u201d Tomei brings a sense of sadness to her role, one that is even braver as she\u2019s often in various stages of undress. As the father who attempts to find out the truth, no matter what, Finney proves to be a wounded bear of a man. Lumet\u2019s \u201cNetwork\u201d earned an incredible five acting nominations come Oscar time (three wins) and I wouldn\u2019t be surprised to see \u201cBefore the Devil Knows You\u2019re Dead\u201d earn a solid four.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Caught up in an adulterous affair with his brother Andy\u2019s wife (Marisa Tomei), Hank (Ethan Hawke) digs himself into a deep hole when he agrees to rob a mom-&-pop jewelry store at Andy\u2019s insistence. Hank\u2019s pressing financial problems are nothing compared to the spiraling trouble he gets in when the robbery goes bad, since the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-movie-reviews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.wddjr.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.wddjr.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.wddjr.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.wddjr.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.wddjr.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=11"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/today.wddjr.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.wddjr.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=11"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.wddjr.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=11"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.wddjr.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=11"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}