Before the Devil Knows You're Dead (Blu-ray)
APPROX. 117 MINS. - PROD. YEAR: 2007 - MPA RATING: R
" ...it gave me the feeling to strap on my seatbelt and keep my arms and legs securely inside the vehicle at all times.
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For over fifty years, Sidney Lumet has risen to the status of one of Hollywood's most established filmmakers. He has sat comfortably in the director's chair for more than seventy cinematic and television projects including memorable classics such as "The Verdict," "Network," "Dog Day Afternoon," and "12 Angry Men." It's no surprise that each of those milestones scored nominations for their directorial mastery at the Academy Awards. While Lumet never took home an Oscar for any of those pictures, the Academy honored him with a golden statuette for his outstanding achievements in filmmaking back in 2005. Now in his eighties, the legend continues to prove that he still has the magic touch with his latest masterpiece. A tale, one could say, hits a little close to home.
"Before the Devil Knows You're Dead" opens with a bang, immediately alerting viewers that they are in for a wild ride as Andy Hanson (Philip Seymour Hoffman) and his beautiful wife Gina (Marisa Tomei) are in the middle of an enrapturing ride of their own. Some might consider it an over-the-top sex scene, but the truth is it gave me the feeling to strap on my seatbelt and keep my arms and legs securely inside the vehicle at all times. It served as a flashing beacon indicating that more thrills were on the horizon, and the warning lights were right on the money.
The intensity surging through those first few minutes doesn't have a chance to settle down when the plot emerges, which at first gives the film the appearance of a crime thriller. It turns out that Andy finds himself caught in a bit of a bind and needs to get his hands on a large sum of cash to solve his problems. His younger and somewhat neurotic brother Hank (Ethan Hawke) is even worse off financially, being a deadbeat dad who is slipping behind on child support payments. Andy has a plan, though, a brilliant one that will hit pay dirt and clear up all of their debts to start fresh.
Andy's devious scheme involves a heist targeting a mom-and-pop jewelry store, but not just any ordinary shop, the one that belongs to their parents. That's the genius element within the whole idea. They have inside information on the alarm systems and where all of the high-end merchandise is kept, plus their parents have insurance anyways so no harm done, right? The whole thing was practically foolproof, that is until a couple of fools set their plot in motion and it completely blows up in their faces.
Similar in style to the format seen in "Reservoir Dogs," the film jumps around to different points in time leading up to, and after, the heist. The actual robbery is also only a small portion of the plot and we only see it briefly, but the real story development occurs after the heist goes wrong. The story morphs from a crime thriller to an intense drama, and the top-notch script by Kelly Masterson never loses its momentum.
Many of the scenes were beautifully filmed with drab and forgettable backdrops like an ordinary strip mall and a regular run-of-the-mill rental car company that just fade into the background to enhance the star power on the screen. The handful of scenes that did have more elegant backgrounds such as the apartment Andy visited to feed his heroin habit stood out even more because of this. It's one of those films that you notice something different going on behind the action with each viewing, and had great cinematography from start to finish.
It's also easy to see why the film has won Satellite, Gotham, and Boston Society of Film Critics Awards for "Best Ensemble Cast." Two of the four central actors (Albert Finney and Ethan Hawke) received Academy Award nominations in the past, and the other two (Philip Seymour Hoffman and Marisa Tomei) already have Oscars displayed on their mantles. Each delivers a terrific performance bursting with emotion, and intentional or not, you could almost see the family resemblance between the Hanson family with certain facial features and expressions. It just really helped tie everything together and gave the impression that they could actually pass for a real family.
After browsing the special features, I found it intriguing how Lumet fishes for cinematic gold by rolling film during rehearsals, and often uses more than one camera at the same time to capture different characters' reactions in a scene. His belief is that many actors nail their performances on the first go around, especially when the mood is just right, and the continuous recording catches what they call "happy accidents" that just can't be replicated by conventional acting. In one case, Hoffman inserted an adlib after the climax of a highly intense scene that totally sideswiped Hawke provoking a half-smirk that suited the situation perfectly. Another instance was the scene with Andy and Gina driving on their way home after a tense encounter, and this time Andy pulls over to have a complete emotional breakdown. Hoffman's performance was heartfelt and unforgettable, and it triggered a reaction from Tomei that made it one of the most genuine scenes on film.
