Search - Before the Devil Knows You're Dead [Blu-ray] on Blu-ray

S A A. (Learned2Heal)
Reviewed on 5/3/2009...

A true masterpiece, this movie. It will have you on the edge of your seat throughout. Amazing character development and acting. No surprise that, from Philip Seymour Hoffman and Albert Finney. The real surprise was Ethan Hawke who, to me, always seemed an overrated mediocre actor. He was unbelievably good in this!

The plot of this film is fairly original and deserved the nominations for Best Original Screenplay, but the presentation is what makes it really work. There should have been an award for the editing too. The score ratcheted up the suspense nicely also.

The whole story comes together flawlessly, at its own prescribed pace. You may not feel much for the characters, but you don't have to. It merely shows you how seemingly ordinary people can get themselves into extraordinarily bad situations just by a slight miscalculation or two. They think they have this plan all sewn up, no problem. So simple. A cakewalk really. All too human... And so are their reactions when it all goes horribly wrong.

I gave it 4 stars. IMDB gives it 7.4/10.

There are several copies of the DVD (not mine) available on this site, if you don't want to wait for the Blu-ray.
(http://www.swapadvd.com/dvd/title/187839-Before+the+Devil+Knows+Youre+Dead+Widescreen)

Genius film by 83-yr-old director

Bradley F. Smith | Miami Beach, FL | 11/27/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The pacing, cinema style, storyline, acting, cutting, directing and overall look of this are stunning. At age 83, Lumet ("Dog Day Afternoon" etc) makes a movie like a 30-year-old would. Hoffman and Hawke are perfectly dysfunctional brothers here. Finney, the old pro as the father, is stunning. The plot is just convoluted enough and the tactic of replaying scenes through the now-familiar concept of time-shifting works very well. There's an operatic quality to the film, and of course, a Shakespearean tragedy going on as the family implodes after the brothers' decision to rob their parents' bland suburban jewelry store. I'd overlooked this upon release. Don't make the same mistake now. Watch!"