Hey Harry and all – Just writing in a review for the new Sidney Lumet pic "Before The Devil Knows You're Dead," which closed the 14th Annual Austin Film Festival last night. As many already know, this film packs a powerhouse cast, including the great Philip Seymour Hoffman, Ethan Hawke, Albert Finney, and the lovely Marisa Tomei, who had a consistent wardrobe mishap throughout most of the film; namely, she didn't have one. Before I get into the review, allow me to voice one caveat about attending any AFF screening: it is extremely difficult to gauge any film based upon the audience reaction at AFF. This is my 4th year attending, and last night set a new standard. What you have, basically, is a mix of serious filmgoers and your run-of-the-mill nincompoops, who are just there to "catch a flick." Many of the latter usually only attend with the hopes to spot a visiting celebrity, but since "Before..." boasted not a single cast/crew member in attendance, that point was irrelevant. Preceding the film was a montage of the multiple (about 50) sponsors for the AFF, those who "made it possible." This montage played over a cheesy guitar riff, which about half the audience sang along to. Then, when the film's opening credit appeared on screen, with the production company name "Funky Buddha," sporadic chuckles were heard. This film was definitely wrong for this crowd, but, to their credit, this audience did laugh uncomfortably through "Reservation Road," further emphasizing how ridiculously bad and overdone that film is. But anyway, on with the review... For the sake of cliche, I'll say that this film starts off with a bang. Not of the firearm variety, but rather one that was a clear mix (for me anyway) of allure and repulsion. Imagine, if you will, the ridiculously hot Marisa Tomei on a bed, bent over and completely nude, ass arched in the air, and moving in a sensual rhythm while being banged from behind. Hold onto that image...good...now, imagine the one doing the banging is an albino-white, porky and completely nude Philip Seymour Hoffman. If you can muster the second part of this equation, you have just realized the opening scene of "Before..." Andy Hanson (Hoffman) and his wife, Gina (Tomei), are on vacation in Rio de Janiero and are thoroughly reinvigorating their marraige. When the lovemaking stops, she turns away, as they both know that things will definitely not be the same once they return home to New York. (SPOILERS AHEAD!) We then cut to NYC, and meet Andy's brother, Hank Hanson (Ethan Hawke), the neer-do-well younger brother. Hawke plays him as the typical adult loser, constantly broke and desperate, unable to pay child support, arguing with his ex, and retreating to the comforts of his local watering hole. The one bright side to this miserable existence is Thursday of each week, particularly the afternoon, when he gets to skip work, go home, and bump uglies with Gina, who seems to have no qualms about playing musical beds within the same gene pool. One day, Andy calls in his brother for a proposition. The older brother, with his fancy suits and slicked Wall Street hair, sits behind his desk and tells Hank about a possible score. They both need money, Hank for obvious reasons, Andy not so apparent, and the score is fool-proof. Andy commissions Hank to knock off a jewelry store. They can split the take, roughly $600,000, and since Andy knows a fence who will pay .20 cents on the dollar, they make out with $120,000, an easy sixty grand a piece. No one gets hurt, the jewelry store owners will collect from the insurance, and both Andy and Hank know the store inside and out. BIG TWIST: The store is called Hanson Jewelers and is owned and operated by their parents! Hank is reluctant at first, but when Andy gives him a $2,000 advance, Hank easily agrees. But since this score is so close to home, Hank seeks out the services of an old accomplice, Bobby, who works at Hank's favorite bar. Bobby is your typical petty thief and agrees to do the actual robbery, while Hank (wearing a silly wig and mustache to disguise himself) plays the getaway driver. As is common in these types of films, what should be simple and clean turns out to be anything but, and before long, two people are killed, one of them being Hank and Andy's mother (Rosemary Harris, Peter Parker's Aunt May). From there, the film explores the usual guilt, repercussions, and twists that follow such an ordeal. Everyone's lives slowly begin to shatter, including Charles (Albert Finney), the elder Hanson, who, while mourning the loss of his loving wife, becomes obsessed with discovering the reason behind the robbery. The one aspect that drives him is that the crook killed at the scene was from Red Hook, NJ, and the jewelry store itself was located in the suburbs of Westchester, NY; why would someone rob a store so far away from home? The acting was generally good all around, Hoffman and Hawke both giving terrific performances. Tomei's character has no real purpose other than playing sexual ping-pong, but, as always, she's great with what little she's given. The performance that threw me for a loop, however, was Finney's. It was either terribly overdone or understatedly brilliant; the jury's still out on this one. He stalks along in the film as if suffering from a minor stroke: slightly impaired speech, wide-eyed, mouth agape, and shuffling his feet as if in a constant state of awe. Now, I don't know if Finney himself suffered any health problems as of late, but if he didn't, this was one hell of an enigmatic performance. Gone is the charming but deadly mob boss in "Miller's Crossing," the gruff, embittered attorney in "Erin Brockovich," or even the lovable old coot in "Big Fish." Charles is a man who comes to the sudden realization that he now must spend his twilight years alone, and it's the saddest character in the film. Still, I can't tell if Finney embued these characteristics into the performance or if he himself was truly suffering these debilitating effects. Overall, the film is fine, no masterpiece by any means, but a worthwhile entry into the Lumet legacy. It drags heavily during the middle section, but is quickly redeemed from a tense climax and a suitable, if not abrupt, ending. Carter Burwell's score reminds one of a Coen Brothers film, the photography is dark and moody, and Lumet does nothing too flashy with the camerawork, shooting in long, medium shots, allowing the story and performances room to breathe. The one thing that did the film no favors at all was telling the story out of order. The actual robbery occurs within the first ten minutes, and we constantly revisit that day through flashbacks and flashforwards with little inserts reading things like "Andy: Day of the Robbery," or "Charles: 1 week after the Robbery." I found this effect to be unnecessary, as the different perspectives uncovered no new twists and did little to intensify the drama. It's apparent that Lumet and writer Kelly Masterson wanted to do something "trendy" with the story, which would have worked just fine in simple chronology. So, in summary: A good film, not great, won't win any Oscars, but worth seeing for 2 reasons: 1) Marisa Tomei's beautiful, naked body and, 2) Finney's exceptional performance, which can be seen as either brilliant or terrible; you be the judge. If you use this, call me Howard Beale. And yes, I'm still mad as hell!See, this is why I want to get into the conversation. I really disagree with a lot of what he said, but in order to explain why, I’ll have to write about it. We’ve got a second opinion for you this morning, though. Will he back up the first reviewer or refute him?
Everyone earth is a Sydney Lumet fan, even if you don't know it. Whether it's "12 Angry Men," "Running on Empty," "Serpico," or even "The Wiz," there's probably a Lumet film that's near and dear to your heart. For me, that film's "Dog Day Afternoon." Lumet at his best, at the height of his directing craft, showing why he will always be a master storyteller. In his latter years, he seems to have lost his way. A great director won't lose his chops or his ability to tell a story, but sometimes a great director can decide to spend his significant talents on a story that not a lot of people want to see. Lumet's last film was the Vin Diesel starring "Find Me Guilty" which many movie-goers just couldn't get into. In no small part to the simple inclusion of a wig on top of the lead actors head. Hell, even I'll admit that after seeing the guy bald for so many years, seeing him with a large, curly wig just comes across as comical. But even "Find Me Guilty" possessed that signature Lumet hallmark - characters that you get to know, that you care about, even if you don't like them. "Before the Devil Knows You're Dead" is no exception to this rule. The acting is phenomenal and the characters are believable and sympathetic, even if you're not particularly in love with any of them. Well, except Marisa Tomei :p The title comes, from what I can find, an old Irish blessing that is, "May you be in Heaven a full half hour before the Devil knows you're dead." The first place I saw this quote is at my favorite Austin hangout, Epoch Coffee House, written on the wall of the men's bathroom. But I'm digressing. The first scene is a whiz-banger - Philip Seymour Hoffman on a bed, watching himself in a wall mirror as pounds Marisa Tomei from behind. It's his wife, so it's all good. And in this first scene, you get a taste for what the entire film is going to be about: the dissatisfaction with one's life and what some people will do to escape that. Hoffman plays Andy, a payroll manager for a New York City real estate company. He immediately comes across as sleazy, something that Hoffman is very good at. At times his performance was reminiscent of what he gave us in P.T. Anderson's "Punch Drunk Love," but far deeper and far sadder. Marisa Tomei is underused as Andy's ditzy wife, Gina. She's gorgeous and butt-ass naked a good number of times in the film. She works as a catalyst that causes some of the major turns in the plot, but I don't want to spoil anything for anyone. Just know that naked Marisa Tomei = nice. Ethan Hawke plays Andy's screw-up younger brother, Hank. Hank works for the same company as Andy, though we're never told what he does exactly. All we know is that Hank's got an ex-wife/girlfriend that hates him, an ungrateful daughter he's trying to give a good life to by spending all of his money to pay for an expensive school, and some serious cash-flow problems. That's how the plot starts. Some slight spoilers here, but nothing major. Trust me, there are big twists and turns in this one: Andy approaches Hank with a proposition to rob a jewelry store. The goal is to solve both of their money issues, and as they know the store well, they will have no issues getting away with the goods. And, after all, it's a victimless crime - the owners are insured for all the jewelry. So what bad could happen? You can probably guess. Everything and anything that you could think of, and a lot more you couldn't. Rosemary Harris, from Spider-Man Aunt May fame, does a great job as Andy and Hank's mother. She's sweet and true, though like Tomei, she isn't given much screen time. But again, her character itself plays a vital role in the film's ultimate outcome, so even if we don't spend much time with her, her presence is very felt. Albert Finney as the father of Hoffman is an absolute stroke of casting genius. When the two are near each other, you believe they're father and son. Always a powerful figure, Finney's anger is real and unstoppable. He can't be reasoned with when the nasty hits the fan, and is the ultimate force for justice, no matter who gets in the way. Of particular note should be Ethan Hawke's performance. This is an actor we've all grown up with and have seen in such a myriad of roles. Yet, unlike a DiCaprio or even a Phoenix, he doesn't really get the credit he deserves for being such an amazing chameleon. Even though he's still got the great bone structure and handsome good looks he's always had, Hawke is able to make us believe that Hank is a lovable screw-up who just can't get things right. If there's a character you do walk away feeling for, it's Hank. He's had a hard life, and unlike some of the other characters in the film, the situations he's in aren't necessarily his doing. The film is deliberate. Not long. But at times, Lumet lingers on shots to build the tension and for some people, who are used to the fast-cutting style of modern filmmakers, I know this can be off-putting. I heard the complaints outside the Paramount last night, though I have to disagree. But, I'm the guy who adores "The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford" so maybe I'm not a great judge on what is and isn't too long. The timeline in this film is all out of whack. Its nothing you haven't seen before, and Lumet does give you clear labels on when something is placed, a la "Hank: Three Days Before the Robbery," and so on. Sometimes it works, and sometimes it doesn't. About halfway through the movie, you think they've abandoned it, as it's done serving it's purpose, but then you get one more, and its more of a chore to go through than anything else. By this point, you're wanting the straight, linear progression of the story from a standard inter-cutting of character scenes. In many ways, this reminded me of Scorcese's "The Departed," a film that most of America absolutely loved. The tone is there, the ultimate impending sense of doom is there, and the relentless ending that you don't expect, but can understand shows up too. At the end, you're not going to walk away feeling good. Or with all the answers. But nowadays - that's sort of refreshing. QMann out.
