Friday, November 30, 2007

BEFORE THE DEVIL KNOWS YOU ARE DEAD




Crime thiller

PRINCIPAL CAST MEMBERS
Philip Seymour Hoffman: Andy Hanson, a payroll executive
Marisa Tomei: his wife Gina
Ethan Hawke: Andy’s younger brother Hank
Albert Finney: Charles, the owner of a mall-store
Rosemary Harris: his wife Nanette

REVIEW
Using a rather unusual device of each scene being played out from someone’s point of view (as noted in the on-screen label) then later seeing it again from someone else’s perspective the movie advances then retreats a bit until it catches up where we left off. In this way the story unfolds in bits and pieces, which keeps you interested in the developments. Being a crime thriller the less said about these developments the better.

What needs to be said is the acting throughout is excellent, the editing crisp, the other production values first rate. In other words, a really good movie.


CLASSIFICATION
for a scene of strong graphic sexuality, nudity, violence, drug use and language.

FOR NITPICKERS ONLY
 When Andy and Hank meet in a bar, the lemon twist in Andy’s drink flip-flops. Seen from Andy’s perspective it floats vertically but when looking over Hank’s shoulder it is horizontal.
 When first seen there are three gunshots some minutes apart. In the replay mode these shots occur within seconds of each other.
 When Hank is in Andy’s office the sun is coming diagonally from the 1 o’clock position. In the replay it is from 5 o’clock.
 Charles gets in his car and before he is even settled and has yet to reach forward to insert the ignition key the engine starts.
 The recorded message from the car rental company says to call 555-???-????; the sign outside the office shows the number to be 212-967-????
 Furthermore there is no such area code as 555.

P.S.
The title comes from the Irish toast “May you be in heaven a full half hour
before the devil knows your dead.”

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