Before the Devil Knows You're Dead

Plot synopsis:
Note: The story is explained here in its chronological order, rather than as it is presented in the film.
Andy Hanson (Philip Seymour Hoffman) is a finance executive at a real estate firm in New York City. Facing an upcoming audit he knows will reveal his having embezzled from his employer (in support of a drug habit), Andy decides to escape to Brazil, believing there to exist no extradition treaty between Brazil and the United States. To raise the necessary funds for the trip and to establish himself once there, he hatches a scheme and enlists the aid of his brother, Hank (Ethan Hawke), himself in need of money to pay three months' back child support as well as his daughter's private school tuition. Hank, meanwhile, has been having a long-standing affair with Andy's wife, Gina (Marisa Tomei), who has been unsatisfied with her marriage.
Of the two brothers, Hank is well-meaning, but weak-willed and cowardly, easily dominated by his stronger-willed older brother, Andy, a ruthless schemer. Andy in turn harbors great resentment that his younger and more attractive brother received more love and affection from his parents than he did during childhood. Andy devises a plan to rob their parents' jewelry store, to which Hank reluctantly agrees. Andy argues that he cannot go himself because he has been in the neighborhood recently, and could therefore be recognized. They assume that only Doris, an elderly woman who works for their parents, will be in the store. Andy states that just a toy gun is needed and that it is a victimless crime, because insurance will fully compensate their parents for the stolen items. Andy plans to fence the jewelry via a New York City dealer his father knows, and expects to net about US$120,000 from the robbery.
Without consulting Andy, Hank hires Bobby Lasorda (Brian F. O'Byrne), an acquaintance who is an experienced thief, to help him in the robbery, as he is too frightened to carry out the crime alone. Bobby reveals a real gun and decides he will commit the robbery himself; Hank just needs to wait in the car. Unbeknownst to the robbers, the brothers' mother Nanette (Rosemary Harris) happens to be filling in for Doris. The robbery goes awry when Nanette pulls a hidden gun on Bobby, causing a shootout; Bobby dies on the scene, and Nanette falls into a coma, dying a week later in the hospital after her husband Charles (Albert Finney) agrees to take her off life support. Charles, unsatisfied with the police's indifference, decides to investigate on his own, and he becomes obsessed with finding information about the crime and others involved in it. Shortly after the botched robbery, Hank is confronted by Bobby's brother-in-law Dex (Michael Shannon), who demands financial compensation for Bobby's death to provide for his sister, Chris (Aleksa Palladino), Bobby's widow.
While Andy is away from his office dealing with his mother's death, his superiors at work repeatedly try to contact him regarding irregularities in his department's accounts that have been revealed by the audit. At the wake for Nanette, Andy and Charles have a complex and emotional exchange, wherein Charles states he loves Andy despite their long-standing differences; Andy says he has always felt like an outsider in his father's house. When Andy questions his biological heritage, Charles slaps him. Andy and Gina immediately depart, and on the drive home Andy has an emotional breakdown over his relationship with his father. Later, at home, Gina tells Andy his boss has been trying to get in touch with him, and expresses her frustration with their marriage and Andy's growing coldness. Andy, preoccupied with covering up his embezzlement and trying to help Hank deal with Dex's blackmail, hardly reacts when Gina announces she is leaving him. Her desperate attempt to extract an emotional response from him – revealing her affair with Hank – fails, and she leaves.
Charles, searching for information about the robbery, visits the same fence Andy had contacted in New York City. After an acrimonious exchange that indicates Charles and the jeweler have known and disliked each other for decades, the jeweler hands Andy's business card to Charles, revealing to Charles that Andy recently came to him looking to fence some jewels. Charles immediately goes looking for Andy. Andy decides to resolve the blackmail situation with Hank by robbing a heroin dealer that he frequents, and then escape abroad. At the dealer's apartment, Andy and Hank overpower the dealer and steal his money. Hank is shocked when Andy kills the dealer and a client who happened to be present. The brothers then go to pay off Dex, but Andy impulsively kills him from fear of continued blackmail. Andy appears ready to kill Chris (Bobby's widow and Dex's sister) when Hank objects. Andy turns the gun on Hank, revealing that he knows about Hank and Gina's relationship. Hank begs Andy to kill him, but Andy hesitates. As Andy pauses over whether to shoot his brother, Chris shoots Andy with her brother's gun, wounding him. Hank leaves his brother and guiltily leaves some of the money behind for Chris before fleeing with the money, drugs and paraphernalia they robbed from the heroin dealer.
After leaving the fence, Charles tails Andy. He follows Andy from his apartment tower, watches as he goes to Hank's apartment, then follows his sons to their meeting with Chris, and finally follows Andy to the hospital where the paramedics take his wounded son. Andy breaks down and apologizes to his estranged father for the robbery, explaining Nanette's death was an accident. Charles seemingly accepts his apology. Charles then attaches Andy's heart monitor to himself and suffocates his son to death with a pillow. Andy struggles to stop his father, but in his weakened condition he is overpowered. As nurses rush to help Andy, Charles walks away.

Tags: suspenseful, neo noir, murder, violence, flashback, melodrama, revenge

Review:
After a cold sex scene, between Andy and Gina, in South America, we know that Andy is a payroll manager who finds himself in a hard economic situation where he badly needs some extra money We also discover that he has been stealing from his job and using the money to his drug habits He's also attempting to keep up with his wife, who just might be having an affair To solve all their problems, he persuades his brothera likable loserto join him in a plan to steal their own parent's small store Their parents are happily married and proprietors of a jewelry store situated in New York's Westchester County Sixty thousand dollars is all they'll need to get their life out of desperation Three main characters are important in this movieFirst the two brothers Each of them is a complex individual, threatened with multiple motivations, and sunk into doubts and disappointments The two are desperate characters, financially and emotionallyAndy is selfish He feels that he has never had the love of his father He is the corrupting influence, turning his brother into an assailant, and his beautiful woman into an adulteressHank is a puppet too weak to resist his brother's wishes His ex-wife is one of the reasons he needs money as he owes her hundreds in child support.
He longs to regain the confidence he once had with his father The third character is their weary and deplorable father Charles Hanson (Albert Finney), especially in the haunting climactic scenesTelling you more about the details could lessen the impact of the film, and therefore the entertainment...Tomei's performance conveys great depth and emotion even with her look, her touch, her particular moveLumet's direction is firm, fresh and brutal..
Two dysfunctional brothers (Philip Seymour Hoffman and Ethan Hawke) get tired of competing for who is the bigger f***-up and who Daddy (Albert Finney) loves more, so they hatch a hair-brained scheme to rob Mommy and Daddy's jewelry store so that they can clear their debts and start fresh.
The coherent and classical presentation he uses makes the similarly structured films of wunderkinds Christopher Nolan and Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu seem like amateur hour.Of course, what Lumet is best at is directing amazing ensemble casts and tricking them into acting within an inch of their lives.
Lumet runs them through the gamut of emotions that culminate in a scene that is the best of its kind since William Holden taunted Beatrice Straight right into a Best Supporting Actress Oscar in "Network." The Devil of any great film is in the details, from Albert Finney's tap of his car's trunk that won't close due to a fender bender, to the look Amy Ryan (fresh off her amazing turn in "Gone Baby Gone") gives her ex-husband Ethan Hawke at his mawkish promise to his little girl all three of them knows he won't keep, to the systematic unraveling of a family on the skids, to the dialog begging for cultists to quote it (my favorite line being the hilariously threatening "Do you mind if I call you Chico?") to the excellent Carter Burwell score.
The film literally starts with a bang, but we are out of that comfort zone pretty quickly.I don't know the origins of this story by first time scriptwriter Kelly Masterton but I suspect that like Lumet's great 70's film "Dog Day Afternoon" it is based on fact  it's too silly to be untrue.
The film consists of an all-star cast, including the likes of the late Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Ethan Hawke, Marisa Tomei and Albert Finney.
Those of you who have seen the film will know what I am referring to and those unaware are in for a treat.The story, while simple and admittedly not too original, manages to effectively show the characters' descent into violence and madness while jumping to before and after the event in which the movie revolves around.
I was always aware of where our characters were and what point of the story I was witnessing.Now I have seen many comparisons between this film and the masterpiece known as Fargo, and while it shares the same theme of "simple crime gone horribly wrong" Before The Devil Knows You're Dead is not a darkly comedic venture.
Director Sidney Lumet has made some masterpieces,like Network,Dog Day Afternoon or Serpico.But,he was not having too much luck on his most recent works.Gloria (1999) was pathetic and Find Me Guilty was an interesting,but failed experiment.Now,Lumet brings his best film in decades and,by my point of view,a true masterpiece:Before the Devil Knows You're Dead.I think this film is like a rebirth for Lumet.This movie has an excellent story which,deeply,has many layers.Also,I think the ending of the movie is perfect.The performances are brilliant.Philip Seymour Hoffman brings,as usual,a magnificent performance and he's,no doubt,one of the best actors of our days.Ethan Hawke is also an excellent actor but he's underrated by my point of view.His performance in here is great.The rest of the cast is also excellent(specially,the great Albert Finney) but these two actors bring monumental performances which were sadly ignored by the pathetic Oscars.The film has a good level of intensity,in part thanks to the performances and,in part,thanks to the brilliant screenplay.Before the Devil Knows You're Dead is a real masterpiece with perfect direction,a great screenplay and excellent performances.We need more movies like this..
And even better is the fact that it comes from one of the greatest classic directorial forces of our time, the legendary Sidney Lumet, who many have said has passed his prime but returns in full force with this viciously rich crime thriller.It's one of those films whose plots are so thick, that one is very reluctant to go into details.
Also on the topic of the cast, the two supporting female characters  wives of the brothers  also feature fantastic performances from Amy Ryan and Marisa Tomei, whose looks just get better and better as the years go by.This film isn't revolutionary.
The lead performances are incredibly intense and the film features absolutely fantastic turns from Hoffman, Hawke and Finney; but the truly greatest wonder of the film is that three years after he won a Lifetime Achievement Oscar, much revered as the ultimate sign of retirement in the film business, Sidney Lumet proves that he still has the immense talent to deliver a truly wonderful, resonant, intense piece of cinema reminiscent of his golden years..
At around the hour mark, Sidney Lumet transforms this film into something that is so much more than the sum of its parts; it eventually morphs into a multi-faceted family drama, exploring the full realm of human emotions/relations, as the story comes to its chilling climax.As is the case with Lumet, he manages to coax exceptional performances out of his star-studded cast, without any notion of over-acting or hyperbole.
Philip Seymour Hoffman, in one of his best roles, is a complex, mysterious, and interesting character, and oftentimes dwarfs Ethan Hawke, who plays his brother, Hank.
What starts out as just another movie about "heist-gone-wrong" develops into an intricate plot about familial dysfunction and everyday people trying to make ends meet (although some ends are bigger than others).Only Lumet could've directed this: you can see his extremely confident camera style (albeit in the hands of expert- cinematographer Ron Fortunato) throughout the entire film.
No example is more notorious of this than Phillip Seymour Hoffman's performance: the intensity of the actor is paired perfectly with the acuteness of Fortunato's camera work.Each shot is carefully blocked and assembled, never allowing the actors to "take a breather", ramping up the intensity or slowly building it up at the director's whim.The movie hops back and forth between the characters timelines to further convey and deepen their connection both to the main story and to each other.Despite this non-linear structure, the subtle allusion to certain objects or events always lets the viewer know when in time the action is taking place, which could only be achieved through solid and well-thought-out editing.Before The Devil Knows You're Dead is a gem and definitely worth the time.
The rest of the cast, which includes the very talented, Marisa Tomei and the legendary Albert Finney, down to smallest of roles are as perfect an ensemble as you'll ever see in in film.If you haven't seen this movie, do yourself a favor and go as soon as you can..
With that said, Sidney Lumet's highly praised new film, Before the Devil Knows You're Dead, brings out some electric turns from its cast.
The ending works, don't get me wrong, it's just that it is what we thought would play out from the start of the final transitionthose epileptic screen flashes to let us know we were moving in time to a different character were laughably annoyingto the last main point of view change, while also allowing the results of a major character's arc to be left untouched.Again, though, despite all that is wrong and unoriginal about the story, the performances are fantastic.
The good parts come mostly before the third act throws credibility out the window, not least in the way that one of the characters finds it easy to keep his car kerbside in mid-town Manhattan without causing at least a discussion with a traffic cop.By that time the movie feels as though it wants to soar way above such trivia, but for me it stayed earthbound, in spite of the formidable talents involved.
All the actors look dreadful, and I honestly couldn't care less about the characters or plot (Hoffman and his brother, played by Ethan Hawke, plan to rob their parent's jewelry store but LOW AND BEHOLD, the plan goes awry).
She is a fine actress who needs more roles like "In the Bedroom" and less that require lip biting and breast exposure.Watching Lumet deftly handle the non-linear story line and the panic of Hoffman and Hawke make us realize just how good he is as a director.
The best is his following of Hoffman through the apartment during his "quiet" tantrum after Tomei leaves him.So this one is worth seeing to see real film pros like Lumet, Hoffman and Finney; but also a great exercise in mentally re-writing a script on the fly!.
It was strong from the opening scene right down to the final scene.It tells a story of how family can turn on one another and the consequences that lay ahead if that path is taken.I really can't say enough about the wonderful job Sidney Lumet did in directing and how he just kept it going strong for the full couple hours.All I can say about the storyline is that it takes you to a place not too many people can relate to in regards to their family relationships, but it sure is a great ride learning more and more about the main characters along the way.I highly recommend this movie as I'm sure that most people that see it will share a similar opinion as mine..
The film's title comes from a famous Irish blessing, which declares, "And may you be in heaven half an hour before the devil knows you're dead", verbiage very much apt for protagonist brothers Andy (Philip Seymour Hoffman) and Hank (Ethan Hawke).In short, Andy and Hank, both short of money for various reasons, are looking to rob a "mom and pop" jewellery store, yet the sting in the tail lies in the fact that this store is owned by their parents.
Embroiled in the turmoil is Andy's wife Gina (Marisa Tomei), who is torn between the two brothers in a very twisted love triangle.Lumet enjoys utilising non-linear narrative to great effect in this film  we open on the day of the robbery, and subsequently dart around various days before and after it, which reveals to us a wealth of important and, at times, shocking information.
Andy, in particular, is of dubious moral character, and Hank, driven by a need to stay afloat, is dragged down into the abyss with him.It is a massive credit to the picture to be endowed with such acting powerhouses as Hoffman and Finney, that one is able to find all of the film's familial issues to be convincing precursors to their present problems, without at all seeming forced.
The final twenty minutes is so chock full of unpredictability (yet still manages to be tangible), and so masterfully acted, that even if you find the melodrama to be several steps too far, there is nevertheless an assortment of reasons to both watch and revel in this electrifying, dramatic character study.Before the Devil Knows You're Dead is packed with Oscar-worthy material  the tragic, spiralling plot is unflinching in its portrayal of man's desperation, thanks to Kelly Masterson's sharp and inventive script.
But no need to bury him so soon, Lumet's come back (at the age of 83, and he's already making a new movie) with a hard boiled "melo/thriler" (the director himself insists on the melodrama part) that certainly has the youth and the strength of his best movies, as "Serpico" or "A Dog Day Afternoon".The movie looks a lot like "A dog day", with it's story of a stupid old-up, where everything goes wrong.
Unfolding by moving back and forth in time and presenting different viewpoints, the movie begins with a catastrophically fouled up robbery that continues the downward spiral of Philip Seymour Hoffman's character Andy Hanson.
With the Requiem for a Dream meets Closer persona, the film tells the story of Andy and Hank, two brothers who come up with a perfect plan to solve all their financial problems; they will rob their parents jewelry store.
Ethan Hawke and Philip Seymour Hoffman have chemistry together, Marisa Tomei as well seems sincere and believable, the father's expertly played by Albert Finney (really a strong character)."The Devil Knows You're Dead" has a special narrative structure, moving smartly back and forth in time and showing perspectives and characters from very different angles.
Albert Finney, in the role of father to these two, deserves much mention, as he pieces together all the clues in "what happened." Phillip Seymour Hoffman is incredible in this character role of a person simply caught up in the under-draft of desperation, with Ethan Hawk cast in the perfect role of younger brother trusting his older brother that, somehow, everything was going to workout just right....and it doesn't.Don't miss this movie!.
Andy Hanson (Philip Seymour Hoffman) and his brother Hank (Ethan Hawke) plan to rob their parent (Albert Finney, Rosemary Harris)'s jewelry store.
The characters are well developed and superbly portrayed by Hawke and Hoffman.The movie is broken down into fragments and fed back to the audience in a way that is both dramatic but also a little distracting.The characters are all pretty self-destructive and the film has a general sour taste to it.Very good highly recommended, but don't expect 'Oceans 11' or too many happy endings..
Tragedy follows the family right to the bitter end, which is believable, and makes Before the Devil Knows You're Dead, one of Sidney Lumet's better dramas, and Hoffman is great, as usual..
Kelly Masterson's first script tells the story of Andy (Phillip Seymour Hoffman) and Hank (Ethan Hawke), two brothers that, because of how life is, decide to rob their parents' jewelry store.
If there's something we know for sure, it's that the movie is very concerned for us to differentiate the characters; the two brothers and their father (Albert Finney), and how each of them live their days before and after the robbery in question.
Lumet's concern (contained in Masterson's script) for the characters can be seen in the different angles from where he shows us a particular moment that's repeated twice (in case we missed any detail), and in the performances by the great Hoffman and that powerful actor that Ethan Hawke is, and the rest of the fantastic ensemble.
Old ,venerated film directors shouldn't be allowed to direct movies like "Before The Devil Knows You're Dead".
They shouldn't be overseeing astonishing powerhouse acting performances by talents such as Philip Seymour Hoffman, Ethan Hawke and Albert Finney, or film Marisa Tomei in such a way that she looks sexy and totally smoking hot.
To draw us deeper into the plight of the characters and the world they have created for themselves, the filmmakers have come up with a demanding and complex - but always comprehensible - multi-level time structure through which to tell their story, creating a fascinating puzzle for the audience to solve.Thanks to brilliant performances by Hoffmann, Hawke and Albert Finney as the boys' father, the movie evolves into a gripping family drama in which feelings and resentments, simmering just beneath the surface for decades, are suddenly brought to the fore by the heavy-handed machinations of Fate."Before the Devil Knows You're Dead" has all the earmarks of a classic tragedy, with one glaring exception: Andy and Hank demonstrate little of the potential nobility whose fall we would normally be called upon to mourn.
Sidney Lumet's 2007 film "Before the Devil Knows You're Dead" is a drama/crime thriller about two brothers who decide to solve their money problems by robbing a jewelry store, and not just any jewelry store.
Sidney Lumet is one of my favorite directors and to see him put out a film like "Before the Devil Knows You're Dead" at age 82 is fascinating.
As good as this terrific cast is too, there is little connection with the characters and thus we feel little when tragedy befalls them.First-time screenwriter Kelly Masterson tells his original story about two brothers, Andy and Hank Hanson (Hoffman and Hawke respectively) who are strapped for cash and decide robbing their parents' jewelry store will get the job done without hurting anyone (since the shop is insured).