Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead Review

Everyone earth is a Sydney Lumet fan, even if you don’t know it. Whether it’s “12 Angry Men,” “Running on Empty,” “Serpico,” or even “The Wiz,” there’s probably a Lumet film that’s near and dear to your heart. For me, that film’s “Dog Day Afternoon.” Lumet at his best, at the height of his directing craft, showing why he will always be a master storyteller. 

 

In his latter years, he seems to have lost his way. A great director won’t lose his chops or his ability to tell a story, but sometimes a great director can decide to spend his significant talents on a story that not a lot of people want to see. 

 

Lumet’s last film was the Vin Diesel starring “Find Me Guilty” which many movie-goers just couldn’t get into. In no small part to the simple inclusion of a wig on top of the lead actors head. Hell, even I’ll admit that after seeing the guy bald for so many years, seeing him with a large, curly wig just comes across as comical. But even “Find Me Guilty” possessed that signature Lumet hallmark – characters that you get to know, that you care about, even if you don’t like them.

 

“Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead” is no exception to this rule. The acting is phenomenal and the characters are believable and sympathetic, even if you’re not particularly in love with any of them. Well, except Marisa Tomei :p

 

The title comes, from what I can find, an old Irish blessing that is, “May you be in Heaven a full half hour before the Devil knows you’re dead.” The first place I saw this quote is at my favorite Austin hangout, Epoch Coffee House, written on the wall of the men’s bathroom. But I’m digressing.

 

The first scene is a whiz-banger – Philip Seymour Hoffman on a bed, watching himself in a wall mirror as pounds Marisa Tomei from behind. It’s his wife, so it’s all good. And in this first scene, you get a taste for what the entire film is going to be about: the dissatisfaction with one’s life and what some people will do to escape that.

 

Hoffman plays Andy, a payroll manager for a New York City real estate company. He immediately comes across as sleazy, something that Hoffman is very good at. At times his performance was reminiscent of what he gave us in P.T. Anderson’s “Punch Drunk Love,” but far deeper and far sadder. 

 

Marisa Tomei is underused as Andy’s ditzy wife, Gina. She’s gorgeous and butt-ass naked a good number of times in the film. She works as a catalyst that causes some of the major turns in the plot, but I don’t want to spoil anything for anyone. Just know that naked Marisa Tomei = nice.

 

Ethan Hawke plays Andy’s screw-up younger brother, Hank. Hank works for the same company as Andy, though we’re never told what he does exactly. All we know is that Hank’s got an ex-wife/girlfriend that hates him, an ungrateful daughter he’s trying to give a good life to by spending all of his money to pay for an expensive school, and some serious cash-flow problems. That’s how the plot starts.

 

Some slight spoilers here, but nothing major. Trust me, there are big twists and turns in this one: Andy approaches Hank with a proposition to rob a jewelry store. The goal is to solve both of their money issues, and as they know the store well, they will have no issues getting away with the goods. And, after all, it’s a victimless crime – the owners are insured for all the jewelry. So what bad could happen? 

 

You can probably guess. Everything and anything that you could think of, and a lot more you couldn’t. Rosemary Harris, from Spider-Man Aunt May fame, does a great job as Andy and Hank’s mother. She’s sweet and true, though like Tomei, she isn’t given much screen time. But again, her character itself plays a vital role in the film’s ultimate outcome, so even if we don’t spend much time with her, her presence is very felt.

 

Albert Finney as the father of Hoffman is an absolute stroke of casting genius. When the two are near each other, you believe they’re father and son. Always a powerful figure, Finney’s anger is real and unstoppable. He can’t be reasoned with when the nasty hits the fan, and is the ultimate force for justice, no matter who gets in the way.

 

Of particular note should be Ethan Hawke’s performance. This is an actor we’ve all grown up with and have seen in such a myriad of roles. Yet, unlike a DiCaprio or even a Phoenix, he doesn’t really get the credit he deserves for being such an amazing chameleon. Even though he’s still got the great bone structure and handsome good looks he’s always had, Hawke is able to make us believe that Hank is a lovable screw-up who just can’t get things right. 

 

If there’s a character you do walk away feeling for, it’s Hank. He’s had a hard life, and unlike some of the other characters in the film, the situations he’s in aren’t necessarily his doing. 

 

The film is deliberate. Not long. But at times, Lumet lingers on shots to build the tension and for some people, who are used to the fast-cutting style of modern filmmakers, I know this can be off-putting. I heard the complaints outside the Paramount last night, though I have to disagree. But, I’m the guy who adores “The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford” so maybe I’m not a great judge on what is and isn’t too long.

 

The timeline in this film is all out of whack. Its nothing you haven’t seen before, and Lumet does give you clear labels on when something is placed, a la “Hank: Three Days Before the Robbery,” and so on. Sometimes it works, and sometimes it doesn’t. About halfway through the movie, you think they’ve abandoned it, as it’s done serving it’s purpose, but then you get one more, and its more of a chore to go through than anything else. By this point, you’re wanting the straight, linear progression of the story from a standard inter-cutting of character scenes. 

 

In many ways, this reminded me of Scorcese’s “The Departed,” a film that most of America absolutely loved. The tone is there, the ultimate impending sense of doom is there, and the relentless ending that you don’t expect, but can understand shows up too.

 

At the end, you’re not going to walk away feeling good. Or with all the answers. But nowadays – that’s sort of refreshing. 

Solitude

I enjoy being alone.

Not in the sense that I don’t want people around me. Or in the sense that I don’t want friends, or don’t like hanging out with friends, or don’t like spending time out with those that are near and dear to me, watching movies/playing video games/doing whatever. I just mean, that when the opportunity arises, I like to be by myself.

I’ve been this way for a long while. When I was married, it wasn’t good for that relationship. My ex-wife, Carmen, was not a night owl in the slightest.

Me? I can go to bed at 4:30am and be at work at 9:00am. But she had to be in bed by 9:00pm or 10:00pm at the latest. Like clockwork. Which meant most of the time, we didn’t go to bed together. I think there are a couple of rules to marriage, and ‘never going to bed angry’ and ‘going to bed together’ are in those rules.

I like spending time with my thoughts, doing what I want to do, when I want to do it, and where I want to do it.One of the scariest prospects of being in a relationship is losing this ability to just come to the coffee house, sit here and write, whenever I want to.

Right now? I just spent the day at the Dobie theatre , running the projector, and after a failed attempt to quickly park downtown so we could attend the Festival After Party, I realized that instead of going home to write, I could do it at my favorite place in Austin!

But I wonder – if I’m really by myself? I eschew going home, where I’ll sit in my room by myself and choose to come to this place, where its ridiculously packed most of the time, day or night, and create my own little bubble.I open a tab. I get a Large Triple Mexican Mocha (iced or hot depending on my mood), pull out the MacBook, pop on my head phones and I start doing whatever.

But I look up. I see people moving around me. I eavesdrop on conversations. I speak to people if there’s the need. I smile. There’s interaction, but even if one of my friends is here with me, the ultimate goal isto be by ourselves. There are groups here talking, drinking coffee, hanging out – all interacting. Not something I’ve done here, but maybe that’s a good idea?Eitherway, most of the people here are doing the same thing I am – creating their insular little bubble, their own private world in the sea of other private worlds, and enjoying their faux solitude. 

So maybe I don’t like to be 100% alone…but at the very least, i like being with my thoughts. Sometimes its the only way to sort them out.