The year 2007 was a primo one for crime movies of every sort and some of the best characters in cinema were shady dealers barely worth the attempt at redemption; Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead is no exception. The name of the film comes from an old Irish toast that says, “May you be in heaven half an hour before…” you know the rest. In a way it’s a good luck salutation that wants to see you stay one step ahead of fate, which is apropos to the characters of this film, although it sometimes challenges you with the question of whether they secured there own fate or whether they were simply victims of it.

Philip Seymour Hoffman and Ethan Hawke play brothers Andy and Hank Hanson. Both brothers need money and they both need it fast. Andy devices a plan that is both lucrative and entirely underhanded: they’ll rip off their parents’ jewellery store in a suburban mall and walk away with $300,000 cash each. Hank’s not so sure and picks up a partner who carries out the actual robbery while he waits outside in the getaway car. Things go south when the partner gets shot and killed while the boys’ mother (Rosemary Harris) is critically wounded. Events send their father (Albert Finney) into a tail spin, while Andy and Hank try desperately to keep their lives together.

The film was directed by Sidney Lumet, who’s long since mastered moral ambiguity with such films as Serpico, Dog Day Afternoon and Network. Before the Devil… is dark to be sure, it toys with a lot of morality questions, but unfortunately these are often played against people that obviously have no morals. For Andy and Hank nothing’s sacred, not even marriage vows. One of the films many little threads is that Hank is having an affair with Hank’s wife played with a sexy, irresistible charm by Marissa Tomei. Hoffman has a good, biting snarkiness to him as Hank, while Hawke does a fairly decent job playing strung out as Andy.
The performances aren’t the problem in this movie though; it’s the story that’s kind of bland. You can tell that the intention in Kelly Masterson’s script is to tell a big, dramatic Shakespearean tale about moral ambiguity and betrayal stretching back for years as ancient hatreds foster negative actions in the present. It’s bold to be sure, and completely engrossing as the Hanson Brothers dig themselves deeper. But looking back I’m struck by how conventionally the film played out. If it weren’t for the Rashomon time play of the script, this fact would have been all the more noticeable.

But like I said, while the film walks around, trudging across well-worn ground, you can’t help but be captivated by it. There are so many solid performances, especially Hoffman who chills with the power of his forceful badass only to fall into the stoopers of despair as a broken and pathetic man when his plan comes unfurled. At the same time, Finney’s quiet dignity is convincingly and stunningly shattered by the events of the film, he does some truly subtle and quietly powerful work. The cast is amazing and of it weren’t for them I think that this film probably would have deflated fast.

So the long story short on Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead is that the performances take this film to a level it probably wouldn’t have reached otherwise because the story is painfully conventional. With one of the wickedest casts in a year full of good actors playing really bad dudes, this ensemble manages to stand out and stand apart.