Lumet shines at the age of 82

"Before the Devil Knows Your Dead"
3.5 stars out of 4
Starring:Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Ethan Hawke, Marisa Tomei, Albert Finney

The aging director Sidney Lumet has made one of his best and most accomplished works. Honored at the Oscars a few years back for the lifetime achievement award, Lumet proves that at the age of 82 he can still make effective films. He has always made socially charged crime dramas, and this time he has made a morality tale about two brothers.

The film revolves around a botched jewelery store heist that weights heavily upon everyone involved. Phillip Seymour Hoffman and Ethan Hawke play two brothers that need a quick score to start there lives over, pressured by work or nagging ex-wives, each brother has his own issues. They plan a "mom and pop operation" to knock of there parents jewelery story, the score will get them around 60k each to get there lives in order. Both men, Andy (Hoffman) and Hank (Hawke) are sleeping with the same women, played by Marisa Tomei. Andy is married to her and doesnt know how to love her, Hank wants to run away with her. Tomei's character is only used for sexual purposes, and doesn't do much but show off some skin the entire movie.

Lumet's contributions come into play with how he shifts time and how we see the plot from different points of view. He goes back three days before the robbery, 10 days after the robbery, and so on, showing what each character has done/will do. The shifting time frame works more often that not, as we are always one step ahead of the characters, knowing more than them at all times.

The acting is really superb, PSH turns in an electric performance, he's a scheming and street smart guy who has been profiting from checks cashed for employees that don't exist in his business. It's a fiery and angry role for him, he sheds all in scene after scene, we really see his world crumble before his very eyes. Ethan Hawke is good enough to act alongside Hoffman, and Tomei is mostly there for eye candy. Albert Finney also stars as the father of the two men, in a role that reminds of his solid acting.

Overall, the film is dark in perspective, and bleak in actions and intentions. It plays as a family melodrama, and a crime-thriller all at the same time. I felt like I was a fly on the wall in these characters ruthless lives, each trying to get out of a very tough situation. The film is just shy of 2 hours, and I was into it the whole time except for the last 10 minutes where it really got ahead of itself. If the film had a better ending I would have given it 4 stars, but with solid acting, plot, and execution on Lumet's part, "Before the Devil Knows Your Dead" is one hell of a film