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Before the Devil Knows You're Dead

Crime thriller's twists are devilishly obvious

By Matt Pais

October 26, 2007

Critic's Rating:

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Needing some quick funds, brothers Andy (Philip Seymour Hoffman) and Hank (Ethan Hawke) try to rob their parents' jewelry store. Of course, something goes wrong, the thief they've hired ends up dead, the boys' mother is sent to the hospital, and the two desperate morons need to find a way to fix it. And deal with the fact that Hank is sleeping with Andy's wife (Marisa Tomei). The film also continually changes perspectives and jumps back in time, like an overlong episode of the under-appreciated TV show "Boomtown."

Big question: Is this thriller from veteran Sidney Lumet as surprisingly meaty as "Find Me Guilty"—the director's last film and the best movie starring Vin Diesel since, um ...?

Skip it: There's no sense that these characters are good people gone bad; they're just poor decision-makers eventually having to realize that their actions will come back to bite them. “Before the Devil” has an intriguing set-up and strong performances—particularly a small but juicy turn by Michael Shannon as the brother-in-law of the dead criminal—but that's it.

Catch it: If you don't mind major lapses in logic. How did Andy and Hank not know that their parents kept a gun in the cash register?

Bottom line: It's tough for a movie that starts out with a doggy-style sex scene in Rio to maintain momentum, and "Before the Devil" isn't nearly as carefully sculpted as Tomei (she's 42!). Yes, crime is never as easy as you think, but when you throw a piece of coal off a cliff, you shouldn't be shocked when it hits the ground.

Bonus: A word of advice. If, like Andy, you need to do a line of coke before a meeting, you may have a drug problem. And, soon, an employment problem!

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