Before the Devil Knows You're Dead (2007)

What's the worst you can imagine? Before the Devil Knows You're Dead is going to challenge it. Through a nasty sequence of coincidences we watch the destruction of several lives, all derived from the characters' own willingness to descend into chaos.


The concept is driven by numerous flashbacks over the plot timeline, which revolves around the robbery of a jewelry store. The viewer is given little pieces of important information over time, with multiple perspectives on the events.

Philip Seymour Hoffman's perfomance as the evil, plotting and ultimately punished character is top notch. The calm decline into insanity of a broken man is represented in a way I've never seen before. Ethan Hawke's character is drawn into the plot for being the brother of the protagonist, and he is able to convey perfectly the frenetic mental perturbation involved. One cannot help but grow emotionally attached to the family of the two brothers, as Albert Finney upstages the rest of the cast as the father figure with an unstable desire for vengeance.

The film is quick-paced, and cuts between scenes are abrupt at times. Although this is understandable in view of the massive amount of information delivered, I felt at times the progression could have been more fluid. The jumping around the timeline felt a little exaggerated at times.

The concept is consistent, the plot is fascinating and I didn't notice two hours go by. I recommend at least a rental, as the replayability of the movie is pretty scarce.