10 Greatest Neo-Noir Films Of The 21st Century
7. Before The Devil Knows You’re Dead
The legendary director Sidney Lumet made many films about crime, but could generally be relied upon to find humanity in his subjects, in the likes of 12 Angry Men, Dog Day Afternoon, and The Verdict. With his swansong, Before The Devil Knows You’re Dead, he went out on a deliciously bitter note.
The film stars Philip Seymour Hoffman and Ethan Hawke as Andy and Hank Hanson, brothers who are desperate for money and willing to stoop to the floor to get it. The forceful Andy bludgeons his sibling into robbing their parents’ jewellery store, and matters quickly become tragic.
The much-missed Hoffman is superb, full of hot air and rage, and he’s matched by Albert Finney and Marissa Tomei as his father and wife respectively. It’s a film comprising almost entirely of awful people, but Lumet’s style is so breezy and the action so relentlessly exciting that it’s never a problem.
Its intricate plotting and deftness with both the criminal and family stories makes it a late triumph in the career of a master director, a properly adult crime movie with respect for its audience.