by Karyn L. Beach

Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead is the rare film that lives up to expectations. Mine were high going in and I was not disappointed.

Hank (Ethan Hawke) and his big brother Andy (Phillip Seymour Hoffman) both need money. They desperately need money. In the midst of a messy divorce and unable to pay child support, Hank’s back is obviously against the wall. Things appear better for Andy but he is actually in deeper than his little brother. Living a lifestyle he can’t afford, with a beautiful wife (Marisa Tomei), a drug habit and some creative accounting on the job, he needs something to happen … now. So Andy hatches a plan to rob a mom and pop jewelry store out in the suburbs. Both brothers have worked at the store, so it seems simple. They know the floor plan. They know the schedule. They know the owners have insurance. No harm. No foul. But when the robbery goes awry, the brothers and their father (Albert Finney) end up in more of a mess than any of them could have imagined.

The title comes from an old Irish saying, “May you be in heaven a half hour before the devil knows you’re dead.” Of course, eventually the devil will know and once he does, rest assured, you will have to pay for your crimes. And they do.

The performances are first-rate all the way around with Hoffman giving a stand-out performance as the older brother whose success initially masks his desperation. He’s amazing to watch as it all falls apart. Finney as well, as the grieving husband and father gives a complex performance.

Director Sidney Lumet and writer Kelly Masterson play tricks with the film’s time line going back to the days before and after the robbery and telling elements of the story from the perspectives of all the main characters. It works but by the end of the movie, it got to be a little annoying.

However, that is a small price to pay for an excellent movie that deserved more than the very limited theatrical release it received. Hopefully, it will do wildly well on DVD.