Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead: Philip Seymour Hoffman Will Rob His Own Parents!

ThinkFilm

Hoffman: evil runs in the family.

Details

Opens at Egyptian, Fri., Nov. 2. Rated R. 117 minutes.

Related Content

• Undefeated: An Oscar-Winning Football Doc With Seattle Roots
  March 28, 2012
• Paul Giamatti and Thai is a Win Win
  April 22, 2011
• Jack Goes Boating: Philip Seymour Hoffman Proves Surprisingly Buoyant
  September 22, 2010
• The Weekly Wire: This Week's Recommended Events
  December 7, 2011
• The Ides of March: Ryan Gosling and George Clooney Make Political Sausage
  October 5, 2011

More About

• Philip Seymour Hoffman
• Ethan Hawke
• Sidney Lumet
• Marisa Tomei
• Amy Ryan

Like this Story?

Sign up for the Events Newsletter: What's happening in town? From underground club nights to the biggest outdoor festivals, our top picks for the week's best events will always keep you in on the action.

Privacy Policy Cancel Continue

Less Sidney Lumet's comeback than his resurrection, this violent family melodrama is his strongest movie in at least two decades. It pivots on the relationship between two unlikely brothers—the manipulative elder and weak-willed younger. Hank (Ethan Hawke) is a deadbeat dad perpetually behind on his child-support payments and regularly browbeaten by his singularly vindictive ex-wife (Amy Ryan). Indeed, it seems to be the money that his young daughter needs for a class outing to see The Lion King that pushes hapless Hank into joining his smooth-talking older brother, Andy (Philip Seymour Hoffman), in a scheme to rob their parents' Westchester jewelry store. To add to the familial intrigue, Hank is carrying on an affair with Andy's restless trophy wife, Gina (Marisa Tomei), and Andy hates his father, Charlie, played by Albert Finney. This is a movie with a surplus of agonized male grimacing. There are some scenes in which Hawke's face is contorted beyond recognition, and others where he and Hoffman seem on the verge of upchucking from the stress. Shot like a bleary morning after, full of powerhouse scenes and over-the-top situations in nondescript locales, Before the Devil is a pulverizing experience.