Rama’s SCREEN

Caliber performances given by each and every one of the actors involved. This is like Gone baby Gone but ten times better. Not only does it have an eye-candy entrance/intro with the daring and still attractive Marissa Tomei showing all she’s got, this movie also has… one of the best screenplays this year, not to mention directed by one of the legendary directors of all time, the great Sydney Lumet. If there’s one movie this year that I could say “I’m glad I didn’t miss out on it”, that would be BEFORE THE DEVIL KNOWS YOU’RE DEAD.

Andy (Hoffman) and his younger brother (Hawke) are about to do a heist on a jewelry store, the problem is that the store is owned by none other than their parents. When the whole operation goes wrong, each of them is faced with consequences that will make or break their bond as brothers. Their father Charles Hanson (Al Finney) is a determined individual who will find justice at all cost, not knowing that the crime he’s investigating by himself will lead to his own flesh and blood.

I’ve seen many of director Sydney Lumet’s movies in the past (12 Angry Men, Serpico, Dog Day Afternoon, Network, The Verdict) most of them are timeless, each with a class of its own, so it’s a bit weird to see him do a movie with pulp fiction style where flashbacks and various time-lines come into play in explaining the story to help us understand bit by bit. I really admire the script, everything is told with power, an all out human drama. There’s complication in every corner,… just when we thought it would turn out okay, some problem comes along and bites them where the sun don’t shine. BEFORE THE DEVIL KNOWS YOU’RE DEAD might just be good enough to be on the same level as Sydney Lumet’s classic movies.

Nominated 5 times but never caught a break, he got an honorary lifetime achievement but that ain’t the same thing. I think Sydney’s time is due. But then again, how hard is it to direct a bunch of great actors that already know what they’re doing?!

Philip Seymour Hoffman showed us why exactly he deserved that Oscar he got for the movie Capote. He’s a tour de force, an experienced character actor at the top of his game. His performance in this movie should get him another nomination. He’s an older brother who feels like he was never considered part of the family, he turns to drugs for relief and acceptance so much so that he loses his wife and temper. When it comes down to it, he’s no worse than the younger brother he always sees as the loser.

Ethan Hawke is really good at showing fear, just like when a bunch of guns were pointed at him in the movie Training Day. As the younger brother who can’t seem to get a grip of his life, at least in the end, he still knows what’s right and what’s wrong. Al Finney did excellent as the father who misses his murdered wife, and Marissa Tomei, well, without sounding perverted, let’s just say that although she’s an Oscar winner, in this particular movie, her body is much more interesting than her acting performance.

I highly recommend this movie only to those of you movie lovers who are adults and into sophisticated, messed-up, spellbound family drama.

* Place the cursor on the picture below to check my grade for this film