Interesteg What makes it different from others?

NekoHomey Purely Joyful Movie!

Tayloriona Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

Nayan Gough A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

sudarshan shetty 'Before the Devil Knows You're Dead' - This mesmerizing crime melodrama couldn't get any more perfect. This is so much more than just a crime drama. Philip Seymour Hoffman and Eathan Hawke, already enough reason to watch a movie. Sidney lumet's long career fills towards completion with this movie. Playing with the timelines of the storytelling makes it different than usual movie. I recommend this movie to all crime drama lovers.

philipfoxe When you have a director with a fine back catalogue, some decent actors and decent budget you reckon you'll get something good. Doesn't always happen that way. This is a clunking pile of how not to make a movie. None of the characters are in any way credible; the plot line never holds up as there is no believable backstory. Why are they so messed up? Why is one derange by stress and the other driven to drugs and fraud? Why the hell would Andy's two dimensional wife have an affair with the mental brother? The storyline is so predictable even the Simpson's wouldn't bother parodying it. Sometimes a movie is so bad its laughable, but this just a waste of talent.

justincward Two no-good brothers plot the robbery of their parents' jewellery shop. It goes all wrong. The father (Finney) forgives his hospitalised son, then kills him. Marisa Tomei shows all. Reasonable premise, badly executed.I couldn't watch any more of this than to work out why it was boring and ultimately unwatchable. In spite of Lumet's slick direction (an obvious time-jump attempt at a Reservoir Dogs tribute), the naturalistic photography of suburban white America, the cool music, Marisa Tomei's bumps, etc, the problem is with the main characters.You know how in a movie, you get a character who you're meant to hate from the minute he appears? He's ugly but thinks he's good looking, he's a nerd but thinks he's cool, you just wish the hero/antihero would push him under a bus asap? He's often not even the main villain. Both the Hanson brothers are just this type of movie trope. In HAHBYD, there is no hero or antihero, no focus for your loyalty or identification, just a focus for your dislike. It's like a film full of (Fargo's) Jerry Lundegaards, the chiselling, conniving, corrupt used-car salesman, except that these Lundegaards have no self-loathing, which is what made the original character pitiable. The Hansons are too smug and pleased with themselves - after all, one (the late, unappetising, Philip Seymour Hoffman) gets to have sex with Marisa Tomei in the opening scene.

popcorninhell The title of the movie is taken from an Irish toast: "May you have food and raiment, a soft pillow for your head; may you be 40 years in heaven, before the devil knows you're dead." An interesting insight when you consider that the film starts with the melancholy of a Yeats and gets more ominous by the film's end. More ominous still is despite being one of director Sidney Lumet's strongest films, it was also his last. Lumet died of Cancer April 9, 2011 leaving behind a legacy of marvelous films including 12 Angry Men (1957), Network (1976), Dog Day Afternoon (1975) and The Verdict (1982).Before the Devil Knows You're Dead seemingly came out of nowhere. Lumet's last feature was the little seen Vin Diesel vehicle Find Me Guilty (2006), which while being criminally underrated, is far from a masterpiece. While a confectioner of New York grit and a worthy contributor to the post-studio era of American films, even devotees like myself have to admit Lumet was a bit of a has been by the year 2000. He limped along making mediocre fare suitable for TV as opposed to large movie screens. Even during his heyday Critic Pauline Kael called his films counterfeit and Lumet himself a poor craftsman, "prodigal with bad ideas…" If Kael were alive today she may have to eat crow given the directorial mastery present in Before the Devil Knows You're Dead. Everything from the acting to the editing to the cinematography is just a joy to watch and the results are so emotionally shocking that it's hard not to appreciate the man and his "poor craftsmanship". Lumet put his all into making Before the Devil Knows You're Dead and it shows. It brings to mind some of his non-flagship films like Long Day's Journey into Night (1962) and Prince of the City (1981) only with the added bonus of digital film techniques.But what exactly is this film about? I hear you cry. Well the storyline is relatively simple; two brothers (Ethan Hawke and Philip Seymour Hoffman) are in need of some quick cash for various reasons and decide to rob a strip mall jewelry store. It's supposed to be a bloodless, victimless crime but things never go the way they should in films like these. Both Hawke and Hoffman do excellent jobs and are further bolstered by the likes of Marisa Tomei, Michael Shannon and an unforgettable performance by Albert Finney, the twos' father.The editing cuts back and forth between the past and present to design a collage of violence, affecting drama and grief. While jarring at first, the back and forth creates a fractured dialogue in your head. As soon as things start to settle, we are taken to another part of the journey and forced to piece things together. It's a movie that took thought and therefore requires you to put thought into your viewing. Even if the story was told straight from beginning to end, it would still be devastating to watch; it'd just seem longer to get to the story's jarring climax.The less I say about Before the Devil Knows You're Dead, the better. I implore you, beseech you, dare you to just see this film. The movie may sound bleak but in a story where no one seems to come up on top, the audience certainly benefits. That and the esteemed Sidney Lumet who gets one last gem past the critics.http://www.theyservepopcorninhell.blogspot.com