Review: ‘Before the Devil’ one of year’s best films

Directed by: Sidney Lumet

Starring: Philip Seymour Hoffman, Ethan Hawke, Marisa Tomei, Albert Finney

Rated: R

Sidney Lumet’s latest film begins with an onscreen message stating, “May you be in heaven half an hour...” and follows that with the title of the film, “Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead.”

It’s an old Irish toast and is an apt wish for the characters in the film – a wish that, sadly, won’t come true for most of them.

But the real chiller of a statement comes from a diamond dealer, or ”fence,” and begins the third and final act. As he shows a business card to Charles Hanson (Albert Finney), he says, “The world is full of evil. Some people get rich off of it. Others get destroyed.” It’s an emotional moment on par with any ever committed to film.

While “Devil” is a jewel heist film, to simply describe it as such is tantamount to saying “The French Connection” featured a car chase or Lumet’s own “Dog Day Afternoon” was about a bank robbery.

The depth of “Devil,” superbly written by Kelly Masterson, is nearly unfathomable, and it’s a hard movie to review. So many things, actually nearly every thing, should not be revealed in advance. Doing so would alter – and lessen the power of – the initial viewing experience.

I never read any reviews until after I’ve seen a film and I must warn you, many of the ones I’ve read post facto for “Devil” reveal far too much information. This one will not.

The film begins in the recent past, with a jarring scene that may shock some Marisa Tomei fans, and titillate others. (Are you listening George Costanza?) Never mind; while there are some brief scenes of sex and nudity, none of them are gratuitous. Lumet, with a track record as estimable as his, doesn’t have to go there. Nor would a cast as talented and respected as he’s assembled be required to do anything they didn’t think forwarded the story.

From here, the story unfolds in a fractured jumping of time frames. While Quentin Tarantino’s “Pulp Fiction” brought this method of storytelling to new heights, it’s never been done better than the way Lumet and Masterson utilize it here. Linear storytelling would have been fine, but this method merely adds to the tension.

Andy (Philip Seymour Hoffman) and Hank Hanson (Ethan Hawke) are brothers. Both work at the same real estate banking firm in New York City and both are having severe, but different, monetary and personal problems. Andy is married to Gina (Tomei) and trying to maintain their neo-yuppie lifestyle. Hank is a divorced dad having trouble making his alimony payments and keeping his kid in a private school. He’s having an affair with a married woman, to boot.

But Andy and Hank have problems much deeper than these.

Andy, the oldest brother, has a plan. While neither he nor his little brother has any (blue collar) criminal past, Andy has a scheme to knock off a jewelry story in a strip mall in suburban Westchester. It’s a mom-and-pop operation, fully covered by insurance. It’s an easy mark and no one will be hurt.

Making assumptions – especially in a film this good ¬– is usually not the best of ideas.

As the time frame jockeys back and forth from the day of the robbery to the days before and just after the caper, Lumet lets the pieces of the puzzle unfold in such a way to captivate the viewer while also making us become somewhat dizzy with each new bit of knowledge.

By the time we get to act three, Lumet has turned a heist film into a devastating drama that can easily be compared to a Greek tragedy or Shakespearean play.

Lumet received a lifetime achievement Oscar a few years ago for a body of work that began with 1957’s “12 Angry Men” and includes “Fail Safe,” “Dog Day Afternoon,” “Network,” “Serpico,” “Running on Empty” and “The Verdict.” He also directed “The Wiz,” but nobody is perfect. At age 83, “Devil” is as good as anything he’s ever done.

Lumet has always been known as an “actor-friendly” director, and that fact is evident here. The top-flight cast seems to be reveling in the work. Despite winning an Oscar for her role in “My Cousin Vinny,” Tomei’s role as Gina is the one for which she’ll be remembered.

Along with the recent Coen brother’s “No Country for Old Men,” “Devil” ranks in the handful of the best films of 2007.

“Devil” is playing at The Moxie through Dec. 18.

Jim Wunderle owns Wunderle Sound Services and is a Springfield freelance writer and musician. He can be reached at info@wunderlesound.com.[[In-content Ad]]