::: WINS-Top 10
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::: GALLERY
::: TRAILER
::: PRESS
::: REVIEWS
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A ThinkFilm release.
Produced by Michael Cerenzie, Brian Linse, Paul Parmar, William S. Gilmore. Executive producers, David Bergstein, Jane Barclay, Hannah Leader, Belle Avery, Jeffry Melnick, J.J. Hoffman, Eli Klein, Sam Zaharis. Co-executive producers, Guy Pham, Joel Corman. Co-producers, Jeff G. Waxman, Austin Chick. Directed by Sidney Lumet. Screenplay, Kelly Masterson.
An intricate tragedy that plumbs messy emotional depths with cinematic precision, "Before the Devil Knows You're Dead" explores urban malaise via ingredients so timeless, an ancient Greek stumbling into the theater would recognize the building blocks of mortal folly. Filial impiety, sibling rivalry, marital distress and crippling debt bedevil protags who shop for all their decisions at Bad Choices 'R Us.
Satisfyingly draining narrative will probably skew toward older viewers, but the wrenching tale has something for anyone who likes their melodrama spiked with palpable tension and genuine suspense.
Recounted via out-of-sequence episodes with chapter headings, the action deconstructs the four days before -- as well as the week after -- the botched robbery of a mom-and-pop jewelry store. From this comparatively small fulcrum, pic enters a vortex that sucks protags in with irreversible force.
Mining the twin veins of family ties and the American pursuit of the almighty dollar, director Sidney Lumet gives his wisely chosen cast plentiful opportunities to act up a dark, brooding storm. Narrative's escalating tally of sordid maneuvers and desperate acts may seem unlikely to some, but Lumet's "Find Me Guilty" (2006) was in many ways more of a stretch than anything here (and that was based on a true story).
Cast
Andy Hanson - Philip Seymour Hoffman
Hank - Ethan Hawke
Gina - Marisa Tomei
Charles - Albert Finney
Nanette - Rosemary Harris
Bobby - Bryan F. O'Byrne
Martha - Amy Ryan
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