Tuesday, January 8, 2008

Before the Devil Knows You're Dead

"May you be in heaven half an hour before the devil knows you're dead." -- traditional Irish toast


Monday afternoon found the Gordons home from work and set to take in a 5:20pm matinee of the Sidney Lumet ("Serpico", "Dog Day Afternoon") film "Before the Devil Knows You're Dead". Expectations were high due to a powerful cast of Gordon favorite Philip Seymour Hoffman, Ethan Hawke, Marisa Tomei, and Albert Finney. Here's the trailer:
Two brothers, desperate for money, devise a mom-n-pop jewelry store heist that goes awry. Threads unravel with breakneck speed and you sense from the start that this will end badly. In this robbery caper turned ugly, the all-star cast would lead you to believe that this was going to be, pardon the pun, killer. But alas, the film was dreadfully disturbing and horribly depressing. We expected more "smart" dialogue and witty interaction, but we left with heavy hearts and deflated moods.

Gordon Movie Scale? Even with a good dose of Philip Seymour Hoffman, "Before the Devil Knows You're Dead" garners only a Pay-Per-View grade. Disappointing.

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