Before the Devil Knows You're Dead

Pros: Writing, casting, acting, cinematography.

Cons: None.

The Bottom Line:

This film is a gripping study of family dysfunction and criminal ineptitude.  It is a stark portrayal of greed, addiction and resentment.  An excellent piece of work.

Review: I am a longtime fan of Philip Seymour Hoffman. My first recollection of his work was his portrayal of a Med School student in Patch Adams. Hoffman played an intense character under self-induced stress from his efforts to follow in his ...

Pros: Direction. Performances. Script.

Cons: Climax might kill the impact? I don't know.

The Bottom Line: luvs it, man. He luvs it.

Review: When the 21st century rolled around, Sidney Lumet had long ago been written off as one of yesterday's great directors. 1990's Q & A was his last critical success, and the cinematic legend hadn't produced a true classic since 1976's ...

Pros: Novel story, a bad event that gets out of hand- Disturbing, Exciting, Inexorably Dreadful

Cons: Not for the weak of heart. Nor the timid. Nor children of any age.

The Bottom Line: Outrageous but it works- although the story is about some despicable people doing some despicable things, real life ones can be worse.

Review: Before The Devil Knows You're Dead I cannot believe how much is already in SPOILERs that helpful reviewers have written about this movie - I'll only try to tantalize you and disclose nothing an "R Rated" movie might show us. Released to ...

Pros: Gripping and cutting edge movie

Cons: Distractions can prove costly

The Bottom Line: A twisting contorted tale of darkness

Review: Few have the longevity of quality direction like Sidney Lumet, for 60 years the director has been making quality movies that have been incredibly well received by audiences across the world; 12 Angry Men, Serpico, Dog Day Afternoon, Network, Equus and ...

Pros: 4 Amazing performances and one very tight script.

Cons: An exceptionally bleak world-view that will not exactly leave you with a smile.

The Bottom Line: Super performances from Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Marisa Tomei, Ethan Hawke and Albert Finney. A great script that elevates genre material to near artistic levels.

Review: I had a pretty good idea of the basic plot when I walked into the theatre. Two brothers (Philip Seymour Hoffman and Ethan Hawke) plan to hold up a jewelry store in a strip mall...and the store is owned by THEIR PARENTS. I also knew it bounced around in ...

Pros: great movie, different from any other movie in the past few years

Cons: some people don't like the scene jumps, but they aren't confusing

The Bottom Line: This is a great, great film that didn't get a lot of attention. Do yourself a favor and see it! Top 4 movies of 2007...

Review: This is the best movie of 2007 that you have never heard of. On my Top 10 of 2007 list, I would put this movie around somewhere between 2 and 4 (with Gone Baby Gone as the undisputed champ of the year). Nearly everything about this movie is ...

Pros: very involved plot, not what you might expect

Cons: has limited audience appeal, talented actors but little chemistry

The Bottom Line: Great movie for people who appreciate drama/thrillers about the dark side of human nature

Review: Sidney Lumet is an accomplished director who has had several box-office hits…and several films that just didn’t come together. After watching Lumet’s fairly recent Find Me Guilty, a ...

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Review: "May you be in heaven half an hour before the devil knows you're dead." A well-crafted, well-paced, well-acted film can be an absolutely beautiful thing. When it's done right, it all looks so easy. And 82 year old director Sidney Lumet has ...

Pros: story, pacing and cast

Cons: predictable ending makes excellent start feel wasted

The Bottom Line: Before the Devil Knows You're Dead has almost all the right elements, but leaves you wishing there had been more.

Review: Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead (BtDKyD) is among the heaps of crime/drama/thrillers that have flooded 2007 with great storytelling and acting that will go unnoticed thanks to the media-roaring clutches of Harry Potter, Cloverfield and other mass ...

Pros: Well written, outstanding performances from Hoffman and Hawke

Cons: That first scene is a doozy, unoriginal premise

The Bottom Line: The bottom line could have used slightly fewer views of other people's bottom lines.

Review: The lure of easy money. It’s one of those universal temptations that most of us manage to resist only because we know that there really is no such thing as a free lunch, and that somewhere down the line, that easy money is gonna come down hard. But ...