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Discussion
From the Irish saying: "May you be in heaven a full half-hour before the devil knows you're dead".
Before The Devil Knows You're Dead is a 2007 thriller about a heist gone very wrong after 2 brothers, fuelled with determination and greed, send a friend to rob a jewellery store and both of them die: the robber and the jewellery store owner, who's their mum!
Fuelled with powerful acting and a unique storyline around it's belt, this film is very different compared to what you would think it is. Now I don't really see too much films that exceed what I believe it to be, but this is something refreshing and finally worthy of an enjoyable time.
The Phillip Seymour Hoffman has one of his best performances here, which is saying something and Ethan Hawke was also a great addition too. The atmosphere never really dies out in this film and it keeps on building up tension in most scenes which is very impressive.
Overall, while hard to follow, Before The Devil Knows Your Dead creates a rewarding, thrilling experience that is definitely necessary in modern cinematic experiences.
Grade: A
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Q&A
How could I forget it. It has the best opening scene in any film.
The Naked Gun would like a word with you.
So would Super Troopers
Remember it? Seriously? It’s the last film of one of the best filmmakers who ever lived.
I think it’s a top 5 film from that year which is probably the best year in film history. The acting in that movie is some of the best I’ve ever seen.
Unfortunately it can be a tough movie to recommend to people because it’s very bleak lol
I saw Ethan hawke present it in a double feature with GATTACA. He shared a funny story where Sidney would often tell Ethan in private - “my goodness, Philip is the greatest actor I’ve worked with since Marlon Brando.” Then one day, Ethan told this to Philip and Philip goes “what the heck? That’s what Sidney tells me all the time about you!”
They both go up to Sidney and confront him about this. He chuckles in both their faces, says “you’re too easy” and walks away
Was probably trying to drum up the brotherly rivalry dynamic between the characters but still hilarious
Well, all three of them did the commentary in the same room and in that instance he only says it to Hoffman
Sadly this is Lumets last film before he died
Are we going to sit here and ignore how hot Marissa Tomei was in that film? I sure as hell haven’t forgotten that.
I saw this for the first time last year. Excellent movie.
Lumet went out with a bang. I highly recommend you check out his other films, OP.
Mike Nichols is also similar, Charlie Wilson's War was his last film that came out in 2007. That's a good director as well. Did Lumet do 12 angry men?
Yes, he did. Also Dog Day Afternoon and several other great movies.
Network and Dog Day Afternoon are two of the greatest films ever made imo
Masterpiece! One of Lumet’s best and maybe the best film to ever close a career.
Funny enough I just watched this tonight! Fantastic story-telling, it was really well casted and had a great number of indelible scenes. I thought it was an incredible movie and I just watched Midnight Cowboy the other day so I’ve been finding a lot of gems recently.