Before the Devil Knows You're Dead

Infobox Film
name = Before the Devil Knows Youre Dead


image_size =
caption = Theatrical release poster
director = Sidney Lumet
producer = nowrap|Michael Cerenzie
Brian Linse
William S. Gilmore
Paul Parmar
writer = Kelly Masterson
narrator =
starring = nowrap|Philip Seymour Hoffman
Ethan Hawke
Albert Finney
Marisa Tomei
Rosemary Harris
Aleksa Palladino
Brian F. O'Byrne
Michael Shannon
music = Carter Burwell
cinematography = Ron Fortunato
editing = Tom Swartwout
distributor = Capitol Films
THINKFilm
released = France:
26 September 2007
United States:
17 October 2007
runtime =
country = FilmUS
language = English
budget =
gross =
preceded_by =
followed_by =
website =
amg_id = 1:352063
imdb_id = 0292963

"Before the Devil Knows You're Dead" is a 2007 film written by Kelly Masterson and directed by Sidney Lumet. It stars Philip Seymour Hoffman, Ethan Hawke, Marisa Tomei, and Albert Finney. The title comes from the Irish saying: "May you be in heaven a full half hour before the devil knows you're dead."

The film goes back and forth in time many times, often showing scenes repeatedly, from various points of view.

Plot

Andy Hanson (Philip Seymour Hoffman), is a finance executive in desperate need of money to cover funds he embezzled from his employer, which he stole to pay for drugs, due to an upcoming audit. His brother Hank (Ethan Hawke), needs money to pay child support or else his ex-wife (Amy Ryan) will cut him out of his daughter's life. Andy devises a plan to rob their parents' jewelry store, which Hank reluctantly agrees to. Andy argues that he cannot go himself because he has been in the neighborhood recently, and could therefore be recognized. They assume that only the old woman who works for their parents will be in the store. Andy states that only a toy gun is needed and that it is a victimless crime, because the insurance will repay their parents.

Without consulting Andy, Hank hires a co-worker who is also an experienced thief, Bobby Lasorda (Brian F. O'Byrne), to help him in the robbery. In fact, Bobby will do it himself (with a real and loaded gun); Hank just needs to wait in the car. The brothers' mother Nanette (Rosemary Harris) happens to be in the store herself filling in for the original clerk. The robbery goes awry when Nanette pulls a hidden gun on Bobby, causing a shootout. Hank flees the scene after seeing Bobby shot to death. Nanette dies later in the hospital after her husband Charles (Albert Finney) agrees to take her off life support. Charles, unsatisfied with the police's help, decides to investigate on his own as he knows that Bobby had a partner in crime and becomes obsessed with finding the other criminal (Hank).

Hank finds himself fixing many problems while Andy only chastises him for his mistake. After removing evidence he had left in the rented car he used for the robbery, Hank is confronted by Bobby's brother-in-law Dex (Michael Shannon) who demands financial compensation for Bobby's death to provide for Bobby's widow/the in-law's sister, Chris.

Hank has secretly been having an affair with Andy's wife, Gina (Marisa Tomei), who has been unsatisfied with her relationship to Andy. Gina reveals this to Andy at the point of leaving him. Upon hearing of Dex's blackmail, Andy decides to fix the situation with Hank by robbing Andy's drug dealer. Once at the dealer's apartment, they overpower the dealer and steal his money. Hank is then shocked when Andy murders the dealer and a client who happened to be present. The brothers then go to pay off Dex, but Andy impulsively kills him for fear of blackmailing them further. When Hank objects to Andy wanting to kill Chris (partially because Chris and Bobby's child is heard in an adjacent room), Andy decides to kill Hank and reveals to him he knows about Hank and Gina's relationship. Before Andy can pull the trigger, he is shot by Chris with her brother's gun. Hank leaves his brother and most of the money before fleeing.

Charles had been following his sons this whole time, having picked up their trail and found out they were behind the robbery. Andy is moved to a hospital where Charles visits him. Andy feebly apologizes to his estranged father for everything, explaning Nanette's death to be an accident. Charles accepts his apology. Charles then attaches Andy's heart monitor to himself, before proceeding to suffocate his son with a pillow, killing him. As medical staff rush to Andy's aid, Charles leaves.

Production

Lumet made the decision to shoot "Before the Devil Knows You're Dead" on high definition video after experimenting with the format on the TV series "100 Centre Street". At a press conference at the 2007 New York Film Festival, Lumet called shooting on film "a pain in the ass," and predicted that as soon as distributors and exhibitors can agree on a digital projection format, photographic film will be rendered obsolete. [ [http://blog.spout.com/2007/09/20/nyff-sidney-lumet-joins-the-death-of-celluloid-brigade/ "NYFF 2007: Sidney Lumet Joins the Death of Celluloid Brigade"] ] Filming of the primary robbery scene in the movie took place at the Bay Terrace Shopping Center in Bayside, New York in Queens. [ [http://www.bayterrace.com/index.html Bay Terrace Shopping Center] retrieved on May 03, 2008]

Cast

* Philip Seymour Hoffman as Andy Hanson
* Ethan Hawke as Hank Hanson
* Albert Finney as Charles Hanson
* Marisa Tomei as Gina Hanson
* Rosemary Harris as Nanette Hanson
* Aleksa Palladino as Chris Lasorda
* Michael Shannon as Dex
* Brian F. O'Byrne as Bobby Lasorda
* Amy Ryan as Martha Hanson
* Paul Butler as Detective Barrett
* Meredith Patterson as Andy's Secretary
* Blaine Horton as Justin

Release

The film premiered September 6, 2007 at the Deauville Festival of American Cinema in France.http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0292963/releaseinfo Retrieved 2007-10-30] It was also shown at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 13, 2007. It opened in France on September 26, 2007.

The film was shown October 12, 2007 at the New York Film Festival and opened in limited release the United States on October 26, 2007 in two theaters, grossing $73,837 its opening weekend. [cite web|url=http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?page=weekend&id=beforethedevilknowsyouredead.htm |title=Before the Devil Knows You're Dead (2007) - Weekend Box Office Results |accessdate=2007-10-30 |publisher=Box Office Mojo]

As of January 13, 2008, the film had grossed over $24 million worldwide. [cite web|url=http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=beforethedevilknowsyouredead.htm |title=Before the Devil Knows You're Dead (2007) |accessdate=2007-10-30 |publisher=Box Office Mojo]

The film was released on DVD and Blu-ray on April 15, 2008.

Critical reception

The film received very positive reviews from critics. As of January 18, 2008 on the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, 88 percent of critics gave the film positive reviews, based on 135 reviews. [cite web|url=http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/before_the_devil_knows_youre_dead/ |title=Before the Devil Knows You're Dead - Rotten Tomatoes |accessdate=2007-12-31 |publisher=Rotten Tomatoes] On Metacritic, the film had an average score of 84 out of 100, based on 36 reviews. [cite web|url=http://www.metacritic.com/film/titles/beforethedevilknowsyou'redead |title=Before the Devil Knows You're Dead (2007): Reviews |accessdate=2007-12-31 |publisher=Metacritic]

"Time" magazine's Richard Schickel named the film one of the top 10 films of 2007, ranking it at #3, saying “At one level the movie is a wonderfully intricate exploration of family dysfunction. At another, it's a coolly controlled examination of increasingly insane criminal ineptitude. Either way you look at, this is a hypnotizing film from one of our great masters.” [ [http://www.time.com/time/specials/2007/top10/article/0,30583,1686204_1686244_1692268,00.html Schickel, Richard; “The 10 Best Movies”; time.com] ] Roger Ebert gave the film four stars, calling it "superb" and saying "The Japanese name some of their artists Living Treasures. Sidney Lumet is one of ours." [ [http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071101/REVIEWS/711010302/1023 :: rogerebert.com :: Reviews :: Before the Devil Knows You're Dead (xhtml) ] ]

Top ten lists

The film appeared on many critics' top 10 lists of the best films of 2007. [cite web|url=http://www.metacritic.com/film/awards/2007/toptens.shtml |title=Metacritic: 2007 Film Critic Top Ten Lists |accessdate=2008-02-25 |publisher=Metacritic]

*1st - Stephen Farber, "The Hollywood Reporter"
*1st - Steven Rea, "The Philadelphia Inquirer"
*2nd - Marc Mohan, "The Oregonian"
*2nd - Owen Gleiberman, "Entertainment Weekly"
*3rd - Manohla Dargis, "The New York Times"
*3rd - Richard Schickel, "TIME" magazine
*3rd - Roger Ebert, "Chicago Sun-Times"
*4th - Rene Rodriguez, "The Miami Herald"
*5th - Marc Savlov, "The Austin Chronicle"
*6th - Carina Chocano, "Los Angeles Times"
*6th - Frank Scheck, "The Hollywood Reporter"
*6th - Keith Phipps, "The A.V. Club"
*7th - Scott Foundas, "LA Weekly" (tied with "Eastern Promises")
*8th - Jack Mathews, "New York Daily News"
*8th - Lou Lumenick, "New York Post"
*8th - Peter Travers, "Rolling Stone"
*8th - Ty Burr, "The Boston Globe"
*9th - Mick LaSalle, "San Francisco Chronicle"
*9th - Peter Vonder Haar, "Film Threat"
*10th - Philip Martin, "Arkansas Democrat-Gazette"Fact|date=February 2008
*10th - Stephen Hunter, "The Washington Post"

References

External links

*imdb title|id=0292963|title=Before the Devil Knows You're Dead
*metacritic film|id=beforethedevilknowsyou'redead|title=Before the Devil Knows You're Dead
*rotten-tomatoes|id=before_the_devil_knows_youre_dead|title=Before the Devil Knows You're Dead
*mojo title|id=beforethedevilknowsyouredead|title=Before the Devil Knows You're Dead
*amg movie|id=1:352063|title=Before the Devil Knows You're Dead
* [http://www.close-upfilm.com/reviews/b/before_the_devil_knows.html "Before the Devil Knows You're Dead"] at close-upfilm.com
* [http://www.moviesbox.us/thriller/before-the-devil-knows-youre-dead-2007.html "Before the Devil Knows You're Dead Trailer "] at MoviesBox.us