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Before the Devil Knows You're Dead

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Before the Devil Knows You're Dead
Theatrical release poster
Directed bySidney Lumet
Written byKelly Masterson
Produced by
  • Paul Parmar
  • Michael Cerenzie
  • Brian Linse
  • William S. Gilmore
Starring
CinematographyRon Fortunato
Edited byTom Swartwout
Music byCarter Burwell
Production
companies
Distributed byTHINKFilm
Release dates
  • September 6, 2007 (2007-09-06) (Deauville)
  • October 26, 2007 (2007-10-26) (US)
Running time
117 minutes[2]
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$18 million[3]
Box office$25 million[2]

Before the Devil Knows You're Dead is a 2007 American crime drama film directed by Sidney Lumet. It is his last feature film before his death in 2011.[4] The film was written by Kelly Masterson, and stars Philip Seymour Hoffman, Ethan Hawke, Marisa Tomei, and Albert Finney. The title comes from the Irish saying: "May you be in heaven a full half-hour before the devil knows you're dead". The film unfolds non-linearly, repeatedly going back and forth in time, with some scenes shown from various points of view.

The film appeared on 21 critics' end-of-the-year top ten lists indexed by Metacritic and was selected as one of 2007's ten most influential American films by the American Film Institute, at the 2007 AFI Awards.[5]

Plot

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 exists 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), a divorced father who also needs money to pay three months' back child support as well as his daughter's private school tuition. Hank, meanwhile, has been having an 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 during childhood from their parents than he did. 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 says that only 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 nervous 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. 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 the severely wounded Nanette falls into a coma. She dies a week later in the hospital after her husband Charles (Albert Finney) decides to take her off life support. Unsatisfied with what he considers police's indifference, Charles decides to investigate on his own. He becomes obsessed with finding information about the crime and any 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 widow, Chris (Aleksa Palladino), Dex's sister.

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 leave. On their 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. She 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. She attempts to gain an emotional response from him by revealing her affair with Hank, but he doesn't react 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 whom 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 meet Dex to pay him off, but Andy impulsively kills him to prevent 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. He finally follows the wounded Andy to the hospital, where he is taken by paramedics. Andy breaks down and apologizes to his estranged father for the robbery, explaining Nanette's death was an accident. Charles appears to accept his apology. Charles 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 medical staff rush to help Andy, Charles walks away.

Cast

Production

Lumet made the decision to shoot Before the Devil Knows You're Dead on high definition video after experimenting with the format on the television series 100 Centre Street. At a press conference at the 2007 New York Film Festival, Lumet called shooting on film "a pain in the ass," and predicted that as soon as distributors and exhibitors could agree on a digital projection format, photographic film would be rendered obsolete.[6]

The primary robbery scene was filmed at the Bay Terrace Shopping Center in Bayside, Queens, New York.[7]

Release

The film premiered on September 6, 2007, at the Festival of American Cinema in Deauville, France. It was also shown at the Toronto International Film Festival in Canada on September 13, 2007. It opened in France on September 26, 2007. The film made its American debut on October 12, 2007, at the New York Film Festival.[8] It opened in limited release in the United States on October 26, 2007, in two theaters, grossing US$73,837 in its opening weekend.[9] In total, the film grossed over US$25 million worldwide.[10]

Reception

Rotten Tomatoes, a review aggregator, reports that 88% of 173 surveyed critics gave the film a positive review; the average rating is 7.73/10. The critical consensus reads: "A tense and effective thriller, Before the Devil Knows You're Dead marks a triumphant return to form for director Sidney Lumet."[11] On Metacritic, the film had an average score of 84 out of 100 based on 37 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim".[12]

TIME magazine's Richard Schickel named the movie one of the top 10 films of 2007, ranking it at #3, saying, "At one level the movie is a wonderfully intricate exploration of family dysfunction. At another, it's a coolly controlled examination of increasingly insane criminal ineptitude. Either way you look at it, this is a hypnotizing film from one of our great masters."[13] Roger Ebert gave the film four out of four stars, calling it "superb" and its director, Sidney Lumet, a "living treasure."[14]

Top 10 lists

The film appeared on many critics' top 10 lists of the best films of 2007.[15]

Awards and honors

Home media

The film was released on DVD and Blu-ray on April 15, 2008.

References

  1. ^ a b c d "Before the Devil Knows You're Dead (2007)". AFI Catalog of Feature Films. Archived from the original on December 1, 2017. Retrieved November 26, 2017.
  2. ^ a b Box Office Information for Before the Devil Knows You're Dead. Archived 2018-12-16 at the Wayback Machine Box Office Mojo. Retrieved October 7, 2012.
  3. ^ Nat Segaloff, Final Cuts: The Last Films of 50 Great Directors, Bear Manor Media 2013 p 176-178
  4. ^ Berkvist, Robert (April 9, 2011). "Sidney Lumet, Director of American Film Classics, Dies at 86". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 15 April 2011. Retrieved April 9, 2011.
  5. ^ Afi.com Archived 2013-01-05 at WebCite; AFI Awards 2007, American Film Institute. Retrieved October 7, 2012.
  6. ^ ""NYFF 2007: Sidney Lumet Joins the Death of Celluloid Brigade"". Archived from the original on 2007-10-16. Retrieved 2007-09-20.
  7. ^ Bay Terrace Shopping Center Archived 2008-05-14 at the Wayback Machine retrieved on May 03, 2008
  8. ^ "Dog Day Afternoons: Sidney Lumet". NYMag.com. Archived from the original on 2018-07-17. Retrieved 2018-02-01.
  9. ^ "Before the Devil Knows You're Dead (2007) - Weekend Box Office Results". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on 2009-08-13. Retrieved 2007-10-30.
  10. ^ "Before the Devil Knows You're Dead (2007)". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on 2009-08-13. Retrieved 2009-09-24.
  11. ^ "Before the Devil Knows You're Dead (2007) - Rotten Tomatoes". Rotten Tomatoes. Archived from the original on 29 December 2007. Retrieved 2019-07-24.
  12. ^ "Before the Devil Knows You're Dead (2007): Reviews". Metacritic. Archived from the original on 2010-09-14. Retrieved 2007-12-31.
  13. ^ Schickel, Richard (December 9, 2007). "Top 10 Movies (Richard Schickel)". Time. Retrieved June 18, 2017.
  14. ^ Ebert, Roger (November 1, 2007). "Before the Devil Knows You're Dead". Chicago Sun-Times. Archived from the original on September 21, 2012. Retrieved June 18, 2017.
  15. ^ "Metacritic: 2007 Film Critic Top Ten Lists". Metacritic. Archived from the original on July 30, 2008. Retrieved June 18, 2017.
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