I went to see "Before the Devil Knows You're Dead" because it is getting some Oscar buzz, and I was somewhat disappointed. "Before the Devil Knows You're Dead" is a crime thriller about an attempt by two brothers to rob their parent's jewelry store that goes horribly wrong. It's sort of like a cross between the really twisted family relationships of "In the Bedroom" with the massively incompetent attempt to pull off a crime in "A Simple Plan".
The acting in the film is excellent. The always superb Philip Seymour Hoffman plays older brother Andy, the "brains" behind the robbery, and Ethan Hawke turns in a strong performance as Hank, the baby brother who always messes up. I was especially taken with Marisa Tomei as Andy's wife who is having an affair with Hank.
Directed by Sidney Lumet, the movie features an interesting story telling structure. The movie is broken into segments such as "Hank, 3 days before the robbery." The segment then follows Hank starting 3 days before the robbery. Then the next segment might follow Andy, starting 4 days before the robbery, etc. You end up jumping around in time quite a bit, and seeing various scenes multiple times from different view points.
Great acting, interesting structure...why was I disappointed? Unfortunately I didn't feel that the movie really quite came together in the end. One problem for me was the fact that Marisa Tomei's character was the only one in the movie that I felt any sympathy or identification with. I think the idea was that you were supposed to be fascinated by the twisted relationships and messed up workings of their family, but I was mostly nauseated. I also felt that the ending just wasn't very satisfying from an emotional stand point.
"Before the Devil Knows You're Dead" reminded me a bit of "Mystic River" from a few years ago. Tons of Oscar nominations/buzz because of the great acting, but the script simply wasn't that good, and great acting can only take the movie so far with a mediocre script. In the end, I enjoyed the movie, and I believe that if you found my "In the Bedroom" crossed with "A Simple Plan" description intriguing, you'll probably enjoy it as well, but I left the movie feeling like it could have been a whole lot more, but wasn't.
Final Grade: B
Friday, January 4, 2008
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2 comments:
Given the year in films in general, though, do you feel that "Before the Devil Knows You're Dead" will be Oscar fare anyway? It seems as if Best Picture options out there this time around might be fewer and further between than ever...
I doubt it would make my best picture list (off the top of my head I can name 4 immediately that are way ahead of it..."No Country for Old Men," "Michael Clayton," "Gone, Baby Gone," and "Atonement") but the academy seems to like this type of film so it wouldn't surprise me if it got a best picture nod, and I'd be surprised if it didn't get some acting nods.
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