Here's the plain, cold truth: Sidney Lumet's grim, gripping "Before the Devil Knows You're Dead" won't so much wear you down as break you down ... hard.In frame after frame, Lumet uses his disjointed, objective direction to build the momentum, and he never hesitates or shrinks back. Neither do the actors. So the hits emotional and physical keep coming until the film steamrolls into a conclusion that's profoundly disturbing. Yes, "Before the Devil" is as draining as it is invigorating to behold.
Part of that energy has to do with the way the story (which is positively epic in scope) unfolds. The narrative is non-linear, so the characters are introduced in jarring flashbacks and meta-flashbacks. This a multi-layered story, with plots and subplots weaving in and out, but there is a common thread: Andy (Phillip Seymour Hoffman), a man who believes money will rebuild his broken life.
So Andy convinces his brother Hank (Ethan Hawke) to commit the "perfect" crime: Rob their parents' jewelry store, pawn the merchandise and walk away with $60,000 each. It's a win-win, since Hank is months behind on his child support and Andy's living light years beyond his means (thanks, in part, to his money-hungry wife, played by Marisa Tomei).
But Murphy's law (or is it karma?) mucks up Andy's brilliant scheme from minute one, and nothing about the robbery goes as planned. Things go very, very wrong, leaving Andy and a shell-shocked Hank with literal and figurative blood on their hands and their father, Charles (Albert Finney), hell-bent on finding out who planned the robbery.
To say more about the plot would be to ruin the experience of watching "Before the Devil." There are grueling twists and surprises galore, and each is revealed unexpectedly. In fact, the film feels much like a vase that's been broken and glued back together wrong, with sharp edges jutting out and pieces shoved into nooks where they don't really fit. But that's part of what makes "Before the Devil" so incredibly absorbing the pieces are all there, it's just up to viewers to put them in the proper order.
In Lumet's mind, it seems, the viewers are the detectives. He makes you work for it.The actors deserve much of the credit for injecting even more energy into "Before the Devil." The supporting cast is large, but the players make their performances memorable. Finney, though underused, is quietly effective as Charles, a man reeling from the fallout of a crime he can't fathom and never saw coming. But his is not a one-note performance, either Charles isn't an ideal father, and Finney isn't afraid to let the cracks in that veneer show through.
Hawke, too, turns in an understated performance, but it might be the best work he's ever done. Known for playing fake-charming womanizers or pseudo-intellectuals, he shrinks himself to portray Hank, an emotional cripple whose coddled upbringing hasn't prepared him to deal with the harshness of reality.
He cowers, lip quivering, under the covers when things go wrong. For Hawke, this is good stuff.Tomei, who's slowly growing into her own as an actress, is impressive as Gina. Essentially, Gina is little more than a trophy wife; she spends more time romancing her husband's platinum card than her husband. Still, watch what Tomei does with her eyes and expressions, particularly in the scene where Andy has a nervous breakdown. There are hints that she's got some depth.
Gina may be one of the film's (very) few female characters, but Tomei makes her more than just a colorful party favor.
As for Hoffman, well, this may be his best performance and this is the fellow who won an Oscar for his first-rate work in "Capote." In "Before the Devil," Hoffman gets another meaty front-and-center role, and he does not disappoint. (Then again, has he ever given a bad performance?) On one level, he exceeds at demonstrating Andy's many flaws. Here is a man who craves money, power and success, a preternaturally calm control freak who refuses to admit he's sinking too fast to pull himself up.
He steals and lies and cheats and schemes, then wonders why the parts of his life "don't add up."But leave it to Hoffman to find beauty where it seems there is none. When Andy finally lets loose, Hoffman rips into the pain and chaos like a man possessed.
In the process he shows that Andy is a deeply insecure man who has numbed and repressed his feelings to the point where he believed they no longer existed. It's an exhausting, unrelenting and awe-inspiring performance. Just try to look away.
In the end, Lumet, now 83, has crafted a surprising film that is part character study, part Greek tragedy. Here's to hoping the best is yet to come.(Note: "Before the Devil Knows You're Dead," a limited-release film, can be seen at Terrace Theater in Charleston. Visit www.terracetheater.com for showtimes and ticket prices.)
