Andy and Hank are brothers. One's a striver and one's a loser, and they both need money. When the striver pitches the loser on the perfect robbery, the loser buys in. When things go south, they go south hard and fast. The result is a symphony of selfishness and remorse.
Don't get me wrong: if symphonies of selfishnessand remorse are your bag, you'll find plenty to like about Before the Devil Knows You're Dead. Director Sydney Lumet is a towering figure among practitioners of his craft, with credits such as 12 Angry Men, Dog Day Afternoon, and The Verdict to his name. He has assembled a cast including luminaries such as Marisa Tomei, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Albert Finney, Amy Ryan, and Ethan Hawke. He's working from a tight, well-written script. In other words, Before the Devil Knows You're Dead is precisely the movie it wants to be. Unfortunately, what it wants to be was, for me, agonizing. This is a dark, despairing film, one in which the good suffer and the evil nurse no hopes of redemption.
No, thank you. I don't need that kind of depression in my life, not even for a couple of hours. This movie was a nightmare.
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