http://www.criticsrant.com/archive/2007/10/27/BEFORE-THE-DEVIL-KNOWS-YOURE-DEAD.aspx It’s been 50 years since Sidney Lumet’s directorial debut with 12 ANGRY MEN, which many consider a classic.  There have been 43 films since then, including a few more classics, like DOG DAY AFTERNOON, NETWORK, and SERPICO.  Almost exactly a half century later, at age 83, Lumet is still in top form.  His most recent, BEFORE THE DEVIL KNOWS YOU’RE DEAD, is an exquisitely constructed and suspenseful study of familial disintegration. Andy (Philip Seymour Hoffman) is an accountant for a large New York real estate firm.  His marriage to Gina (Marisa Tomei) is troubled, he’s on drugs and has embezzled funds from his employer to pay for his habit.  The company is being audited and his crime will soon be discovered, so he hatches a plan to rob a suburban jewelry store. The one catch is that the store is owned by his parents.  But the plan is foolproof.  The robbery takes place on the weekend, when an elderly female employee is alone in the store. His parents will collect the insurance money so everyone comes out at least even.  Well, except for the insurance company. Andy convinces his younger brother Hank (Ethan Hawk) to do the deed.  Hank needs money to support his angry ex and their daughter.  He’s weak-willed enough to agree to his bullying brother’s plan, but not strong enough to carry it out as planned. He gets someone else to do it for a cut of the profits, and that’s when things start to go awry.  The elderly female employee called in sick.  Andy and Hank’s mother, Nanette (Rosemary Harris), is working.  The crook of course doesn’t know that, and Hank can’t tell him because he’s in the car quaking.  Nanette reaches for a weapon, shots are fired and there are two dead bodies. en-US Critics Rant info@criticsrant.com Subtext Version 1.9.4.0 http://www.criticsrant.com/images/default_gravatar_bullhorn.png http://www.criticsrant.com/archive/2007/10/27/BEFORE-THE-DEVIL-KNOWS-YOURE-DEAD.aspx 77 60