Film: Devil not in details
Warren Haas, Peak Staff
Before The Devil Knows You’re Dead is in theatres now.
Something that ought to be a sure bet on whether or not a movie will be good is turning into something that is just perplexing. I’m referring to films with a good cast, a respected director, and an interesting title. One might think a good title hints at original writing, while an acclaimed director working with talented actors ensures a convincing portrayal of the story. It’s difficult to have such expectations anymore — and to remember that even the most talented take the odd misstep.
Before The Devil Knows You’re Dead serves as such a reminder: everyone — ironically enough, like the characters in the film — makes mistakes. Philip Seymour Hoffman, Ethan Hawke, and a supporting cast of capable actors directed by Sidney Lumet do little to make a movie with an intriguingly evil title and story at all interesting.
Similar to the recently released (and far superior) Coen Brothers film No Country For Old Men, Lumet’s movie attempts to be a study of evil — characters that have always been that way, and others who are dragged by desperation into doing bad things. Kelly Masterson’s script centres on two brothers who plot to rob their parents’ jewellery store, only to see it all go horribly wrong and be faced with several unexpected consequences.
However, the movie falters because it tries to tell its story in a fragmented, non-linear fashion — it constantly goes back and forth in time while also switching to different characters’ perspectives. Several scenes are repeated at different angles when we are seeing what some other person did leading up to that specific time. It’s not that this is repetitive, but it does make it difficult to become engaged with or care about any of the characters. As soon as you learn about one person’s motivations, the story changes gears to something that happened at an unrelated point, forcing you to forget about what you have just seen. This movie is ultimately designed to be a thriller but whenever tension is built, the story once again switches to something completely different. Since you never have time to get to know any of the characters, you don’t mind that you didn’t get to see what was about to happen to them.
The inability to engage the viewer plagues this film throughout. For a movie about evil people, no one represents any incomprehensible, fascinating evil — instead, we get a series of characters that are merely unlikable and unsympathetic. Hoffman and Hawke play brothers Andy and Hank, respectively; Andy steals money from his work to finance his drug habit while Hank is a deadbeat dad with severe child support debts. It’s hard to understand why Andy is so depressed because he is married to the unendingly beautiful Gina (Marissa Tomei), whose only flaw seems to be that she’s a “lousy lay.” Albert Finney plays the brothers’ father, who is evil only insofar as he is a bad father. When he actually starts acting evil, his odd performance leaves you wondering if the guy isn’t just a confused senior citizen.
More than anything, it’s impossible to care about evil acts when the victims aren’t all that endearing. There is not a single redeeming character in Before The Devil Knows You’re Dead — the only person who might’ve been good is taken out of the story so quickly you are left to assume she was good simply because she was an old lady.
As much as they are unlikable, none of the bad characters are evil enough to equate them with somebody truly evil like, say, the devil. You’re as confused with why the characters act the way they do as you are with how so many good actors working with an accomplished director could make such a mediocre movie.