Lumet’s last great film: ‘Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead’

By TERRY R. CASSREINO

BEFORE THE DEVIL
KNOWS YOU’RE DEAD (2007)

Few American film makers can match the quality and breadth of  morally complex dramas that make up the long list of motion pictures Sidney Lumet helmed for the big screen.

By the time Lumet died April 9 at age 86, he left a legacy that included such classics as the courtroom drama “12 Angry Men,” the doomsday thriller “Fail Safe” and crime dramas “Serpico” and “Prince of the City.”

His films are funny, edgy and deep. His best are about people so committed to and, in many instances, obsessed with a specific issue or cause that they are unaware or simply don’t care how their decisions and actions affect others.

It’s especially bittersweet that Lumet’s last film, “Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead” in 2007, hit the screen 50 years after his first, “12 Angry Men.” Not surprisingly, “Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead” ranks among his best.

Lumet’s final film is a riveting drama about two brothers, played by Philip Seymour Hoffman and Ethan Hawke, who find themselves in such dire financial straits that they decide to rob their parents’ suburban jewelry store.

Hoffman has a serious drug problem, an addiction that has led to financial problems at his work. Hawke, shy and introverted, is months behind in child support – and constantly berated by his ex-wife and, sometimes, his teenage daughter.

The two brothers have an awkward relationship, with Hoffman the dominant personality. Their father, played by Albert Finney, also has a strong personality and pays little attention to Hoffman. Complicating everything: Hawke’s character is having an affair with his brother’s wife, Marisa Tomei.

That the two brothers would even consider robbing their parents highlights the level and depth of their desperation. Their plight is heightened by Lumet’s decision to tell the story in non-linear fashion.

Rather than moving chronologically, Lumet jumps around in time and shows the same events from different perspectives. He gives the film a startling split personality: “Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead” is both a drama about a seriously dysfunctional family and a heist film with increasingly inept criminals.

The acting is uniformly excellent from a first-rate cast. Hoffman, though, a gifted actor who won an Oscar for the title role in “Capote,” dominates the entire motion picture. Once he decides to rob his parents’ jewelry store, it becomes an obsession that dominates his life.

BEFORE THE DEVIL
KNOWS YOU’RE DEAD (2007)

Hoffman’s character is like others in many Lumet films. These are driven men with a one-track mind that no one will or can change. They are often indifferent to the hurt and pain they cause others.

In Lumet’s 1973 film “Serpico,” Al Pacino starred as Frank Serpico, a true life figure who was intently obsessed with going undercover to expose corruption among fellow officers on the New York police force.

In 1975’s “Dog Day Afternoon,” Pacino, again, robs a bank to finance his boyfriend’s sex change. In 1981’s “Prince of the City,” Treat Williams stars as another New York officer who also exposes police corruption at great expense to his family and friends.

These are all complex characters with personal, moral problems. Lumet throws all of their quirks onto the screen – their personalities, their decisions, their choices – and lets the audience react.

Most of Lumet’s films are set and filmed on location in New York City. His locations give the film a raw, on-the-street, sometimes documentary feel. Each of his films are vibrant and full of life. And “Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead” is no exception.

You don’t work in film as long as Lumet without making a few missteps; “Equus,” “The Wiz” and his remake of John Cassavetes’ “Gloria” come quickly to mind. At the same time, Lumet showed a deft comic touch in such films as the biting satire “Network” and the film version of the Broadway hit “Deathtrap.”

But he seemed most at home with real-life crime dramas set in New York City. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen “Dog Day Afternoon,” “Serpico” and “Prince of the City” – all remain as fresh and exciting today as they did when I first saw them at the theater years ago. “Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead” is just as good.

Incidentally, the title “Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead” comes from an old 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 available for rental and purchase on DVD and Blu-ray high-definition disc. Click here to purchase the film on Blu-ray or click here to purchase it on DVD through Amazon.com. 
You also can stream “Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead” in high definition to your computer or television through Netflix; streaming availability expires June 30, 2012. The film is rated R for sex, nudity, violence and profanity.

# # #