David O'ConnellBefore the Devil Knows You're Dead
April 24th 2008 05:28
Sidney Lumet is still a legendary figure in American film, one whose longevity can only be described as remarkable. His career began in the mid-50's with a film which was destined to be one of his most lasting, Twelve Angry Men. To this day I may have seen it more than any other film in existence! Now into his 80's - and in the intervening years having delivered such seminal works as Serpico, Network, and Dog Day Afternoon amongst others - he gives us the gripping and darkly hued gem Before the Devil Knows You're Dead, proving that age is no barrier to the quality of his work. Ethan Hawke, Marisa Tomei and Albert Finney give fine performances here in a crime film about a very dysfunctional family and a heist that goes horribly astray, but towering over them all is the amazing Philip Seymour Hoffman who gives weight and power to a role than centralises the entire plot to the point where we can no longer look away from him, sensing all along that a terrible fate awaits.
I admit to being biased here - Lumet is one of my all-time favourite directors, but this is an almost flawless film, and anyone still longing for the mostly lost sensibilities of the great American films of the 70's will find themselves enjoying and admiring what this film has to offer, stripped of any phony, cathartic ending, the harshest questions of life answered with bleakness and barely a hint of light.
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Comment by JohnDoe
Film & TV on DVD
Im dying to see this because Im a huge Lumet fan too. So many genre's captured with energy and flair. I shar a love with all the films you mentioned.
Lumet bought out the best of Sean Connery in The Hill, The Offence and Murder on the orient Express.
Comment by RubySoho
Music Zone
Thought Zone