Sidney Lumet was an under-rated iconoclast. His film-making career spanned for more than five decades. He has covered different genres: satirical comedies (“Network”, “Critical Care”); Court-room drama (“The Verdict”, “12 Angry Men”, and “Find me Guilty”); Crime/drama (“Dog Day Afternoon”, “Serpico”, “Prince of the City”). He has adapted stage plays, made artistic success with sprawling chronicles in which the character’s ethical and moral dilemmas are of main concern. He has his own share of below-average movies, but at the age of 83, Lumet made his last film, which looked like a nostalgic throwback to the golden age of 70’s. In the age of digital film-making, he found the power of storytelling through “Before the Devil Knows you’re Dead” (2007) – a slick, nasty, violent familial tragedy.
Andy Hanson (Philip Seymour Hoffman) is a drug addict. He is
a high-level executive at a real-estate firm and he is embezzling money of the
payroll to support his bills for coke and heroin. His neglected, trophy wife,
Gina (Marisa Tomei) is having a steamy affair with Andy’s younger, deadbeat
brother Hank Hanson (Ethan Hawke). Hank is a penniless guy, who is far behind
on his child-support payments. He is regularly intimidated by his vindictive
ex-wife (Amy Ryan) and is rarely seeing his only daughter. The brothers lead a
different life style but both have large money issues.
The film begins with a shot of paunchy Andy having sex with
his wife. Then, moves onto a jewelry shop in a strip-mall. “It's a victimless
crime” says alpha-male Andy to Hank, after coming up with a perfect solution
for their money woes. Hank recruits a low-life Bobby (Brian O’Bryne) and takes
the position of getaway driver. On the day, the burglars enter the jewelry store
and their plan to terrorize the lone employee goes to hell. The employee, who
is a nice old lady, gets shot senselessly by Bobby. The jewelry shop is named
‘Hanson jewelers.’ Yes, it is their parents’ store. This robbery happens in the
first 10 minutes and the rest of the movie unfolds through the eyes of
different characters, jumping back and forth in time.
 |
| Sidney Lumet directing Hoffman |
The script by Kelly Masterson looks like a Shakespearean
tale of woe or like a Greek tragedy, except that it happens in mini-malls and
crummy apartments. Greed is the
important subtext in his script – the greed which gives a person something to
hold on to even as it kills him/her. Sins of the father, passion play and life
in New York all play a major part in this incisive character study. Lumet has
remarkably adapted himself to the indefatigable modern dramatic structure. His
frames weave in and out of the action and the point-of-view shifts looks
graceful. Lumet’s most important trait is his ability to use his actors to
maximum effect by constantly pumping up the dramatic momentum (think of Sean
Connery in “The Hill”, Al Pacino in “Dog day Afternoon” and “Serpico” and even
Vin Diesel in “Find me Guilty”). He once again assembles a terrific showcase of
talents.
Hoffman is a highly under-rated classic actor who can play
menacing roles (“Mission Impossible III”, “Punch-Drunk Love”, and “The
Master”), born-loser roles (“Owning Mahony”, “Happiness”) and also gentle,
lovable roles (“Magnolia”, “Doubt”). Here, Hoffman surfaces like a loser and a
nice guy, but later devolves into savagery.
The rage we see in the scene where he destroys his own apartment is
something beyond his impressive performance. Ethan Hawke always gives an
exceptional performance, when he is not playing hero (“Before” trilogy,
“Training Day”). As a tagging along brother, Hawke’s crumpled face perfectly
reflects the betrayals his character has faced. Marisa Tomei’s portrayal of the
character of a depraved woman is her finest screen performance. Albery Finney
is quietly terrifying as the father. He gradually builds his character which
rises to astonishing levels of sadness. Michael Shannon looks menacing as the
pragmatic black-mailer.
“Before the Devil Knows you’re dead” is a testimony that
great direction and powerful stories transcends eras and technology. It is a
rare and efficient neo-noir, full of powerhouse performances and scenes.
Trailer
Rated R for strong graphic sexuality, nudity, violence, drug use,
and language.
No comments:
Post a Comment