Before the Devil Knows You're Dead

This is a great tale of greed, family and a simple plan gone horribly awry. Hoffman is excellent as the older brother who sets the plan in motion with the help of his half-wit younger brother (Hawke). Lumet uses an interesting direction technique starting the story at the climax and moving backwards showing the days leading up to the robbery through the various characters' perspectives. Then we move forward and see Hoffman and Hawke try to pick up the pieces, although we know that it is simply too late.

Hoffman exudes emotion, and as I was watching him, I could see and feel the stress and angst in his face. He draws the viewer into his world, and as it begins to come crashing in around him, you feel like you're right in the thick of it. His performance reminds me of one of his lesser known films; Owning Mahowny, and his characters plights are very similar in both films. There is an outward appearance of calm confidence, but through the eyes you can see nervous uncertainty and fear.

The pace of the film went smoothly, and the suspense began to build about half way through, but the shaky cuts when the perspective changed were a little overly dramatic. Finney and Tomei both do a fine job, but my complaint is with the resemblance between Hoffman and Hawke. There could have been a more convincing player than Hawke to play the little brother, and I'm normally a fan of his work.

As events begin to spiral out of control, we see that there is no such thing as a perfect crime, and the repercussions are disastrous and inescapable. The tension holds until the final frame and a lesson in greed and trust is learned too late. I have a feeling that this one will escape the mainstream audiences' radar, but I would expect Hoffman and Lumet to receive recognition from the Academy. 9/10.