Review

Review Date: 18-November-07
Spoiler Rating: Medium
Juju Judgment: Junk

Before the Devil Knows You're Dead (2007)

The older I get, the more human weakness I see, the less able I am to stand it. Perhaps it should not work this way — greater wisdom should produce greater tolerance — but it is a fact I wrestle with and one which I think you should know. Because it impacts my ability to review a lot of movies. A critic should consider style along with substance and recognize that art imitates life; but any expresser of opinion brings his or her essence to the table, and there is mine. I do not want to wallow in mankind's baseness. I do not want to watch films like "Before the Devil Knows You're Dead." And I am going to complain when I do.

Directed by long-lived Sidney Lumet, "Before the Devil Knows You're Dead" shows clear signs of creative minds pursuing something smart and stimulating, but all of it is lost on me. What I see is a slew of despicable characters acting on repugnant impulses. Philip Seymour Hoffman, one of my favorite actors, and Ethan Hawke, perfectly cast for his puerile vulnerability, play brothers Andy and Hank Hanson, each of whom is a loser in his own way. Andy is a slick real estate accountant with a drug habit and a bimbo wife (Marisa Tomei) whom he loves but cannot satisfy. Hank is a failed adult and husband with overdue child support payments. (The women in this picture have no function other than expecting men to provide for them.) They both want money and a new direction, so Andy, ever the leader, comes up with a plan. Hank will rob their parents' jewelry store, Andy will unload the haul and split the profits, their unknowing parents will collect from the insurance company, and everybody will come out on top.

Since there is a modicum of justice in the world (stupidity reaping its own reward), the plan goes down with more than just a hitch; it really hits the fan. Presented in fragments of disjointed time, each player's reactions are laid open for consideration, including those of the Hanson patriarch (Albert Finney). He is devastated by the outcome of the robbery and begins to hunt for the perpetrator, spurred by the apathy of the police. This being a family affair, the interwoven trauma unearths secrets and resentments which have been festering for some time. Plots lead to counter-plots and everybody suffers.

So what? With the exception of the father, all the characters are spineless lowlifes, and Pop is pretty creepy in his own right. Clever spinning may have woven this web of idiocy, but "Why?" and "Why should I care?" are questions I am compelled to ask.

Copyright © 2007 The Jujube (M. I. Kim). All rights reserved.