{"id":779,"date":"2008-04-28T21:32:38","date_gmt":"2008-04-29T02:32:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/?p=779"},"modified":"2022-10-10T14:14:20","modified_gmt":"2022-10-10T18:14:20","slug":"before-the-devil-knows-youre-dead","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/before-the-devil-knows-youre-dead\/","title":{"rendered":"Sidney Lumet shows us how it’s done in Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead<\/em> is a powerful, electric return to form for the 83 year-old Sidney Lumet, director of such canonical classics as 12 Angry Men<\/em>, Serpico<\/em>, Network<\/em>, and, uh, The Wiz<\/em>?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kelly Masterson’s screenplay tells the high-tension tale of a pair of wholly doomed brothers as a non-linear narrative from multiple points of view. Each jump in time and POV is accompanied by a thrilling editing technique I haven’t seen anywhere else but Dennis Hopper’s Easy Rider<\/em>: the current and subsequent scene ricochet back and forth in increasing speed until we’re hurtled through time into another fragment of the narrative.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Ethan
A masterclass in blocking from Sidney Lumet<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The movie is full of examples of a fine director knowing how to use the form to the story’s advantage. For one example of how the composition of a shot reflects the subtext of the scene, note how that whenever Andy (Philip Seymour Hoffman) and Hank (Ethan Hawk) plot their scheme in the bar, Andy physically looms over Hank and dominates the frame with his bulk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The acting is great all around, including a devastating turn from Albert Finney as a bitterly disappointed father, and Marisa Tomei as a woman who cast her lot with two of the worst prospects on the planet. And in case you think Hawke and Hoffman are miscast as siblings, well… just watch.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead is a powerful, electric return to form for the 83 year-old Sidney Lumet, director of such canonical classics as 12 Angry Men, Serpico, Network, and, uh, The Wiz? Kelly Masterson’s screenplay tells the high-tension tale of a pair of wholly doomed brothers as a non-linear narrative from multiple points […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4875,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16,2],"tags":[1211,1136,46,1338,1208,1212,74,1209],"class_list":["post-779","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-4-stars","category-movies","tag-albert-finney","tag-crime","tag-drama","tag-ethan-hawke","tag-kelly-masterson","tag-marisa-tomei","tag-philip-seymour-hoffman","tag-sidney-lumet"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/04\/before-the-devil-knows-youre-dead-feature.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pa9lhB-cz","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1173,"url":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/seven-samurai\/","url_meta":{"origin":779,"position":0},"title":"Seven Samurai protect others to save themselves in Akira Kurosawa’s Shichinin no samurai","author":"Chad Ossman","date":"October 5, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Akira Kurosawa's Seven Samurai is awesome and perfect, and this most recent viewing has affirmed its place among my all-time favorites. It's a big movie, by which I mean it makes the best use of its generous running time with just the right amount of everything: romance, comedy, drama, suspense,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "5 Stars"","block_context":{"text":"5 Stars","link":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/category\/ratings\/5-stars\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Seven Samurai","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/10\/seven-samurai-feature.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/10\/seven-samurai-feature.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/10\/seven-samurai-feature.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/10\/seven-samurai-feature.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/10\/seven-samurai-feature.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1830,"url":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/state-of-play\/","url_meta":{"origin":779,"position":1},"title":"Cool Britannia: David Yates’ BBC Miniseries State of Play","author":"Chad Ossman","date":"June 25, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"The 2003 BBC miniseries State of Play is nothing less than six straight hours of intelligent drama, liberally spiced with suspense, action, and tasty plot twists. The entire epic tale is delivered by a veritable plethora of British Isles telly & film who's who: writer Paul Abbot, director David Yates,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "4 Stars"","block_context":{"text":"4 Stars","link":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/category\/ratings\/4-stars\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"State of Play","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/06\/state-of-play-2003-featured.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/06\/state-of-play-2003-featured.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/06\/state-of-play-2003-featured.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/06\/state-of-play-2003-featured.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/06\/state-of-play-2003-featured.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":5737,"url":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/taika-waititi-mocks-the-devil-in-jojo-rabbit\/","url_meta":{"origin":779,"position":2},"title":"Taika Waititi mocks the devil in Jojo Rabbit","author":"Chad Ossman","date":"November 2, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Perhaps unfairly, a couple external factors negatively affected my experience of Jojo Rabbit: The Brooklyn Alamo Drafthouse programmed the trailer for Terrence Malick's forthcoming A Hidden Life before Jojo Rabbit, throwing a spotlight on the \"good German\" trope they both share. Of course, both quiet and loud German resistance to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "3 Stars"","block_context":{"text":"3 Stars","link":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/category\/ratings\/3-stars\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Jojo Rabbit","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/jojo-rabbit.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/jojo-rabbit.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/jojo-rabbit.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/jojo-rabbit.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/jojo-rabbit.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1875,"url":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/generation-kill\/","url_meta":{"origin":779,"position":3},"title":"Semper Gumby: HBO’s Generation Kill","author":"Chad Ossman","date":"July 28, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"The HBO miniseries Generation Kill comes from David Simon and Ed Burns, the masterminds behind the superlative series The Wire. Simon himself is a former journalist, the state of the industry thereof being a primary preoccupation of the fifth season of the The Wire. So it makes sense that he\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "3 Stars"","block_context":{"text":"3 Stars","link":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/category\/ratings\/3-stars\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Generation Kill","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/07\/generation-kill.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/07\/generation-kill.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/07\/generation-kill.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/07\/generation-kill.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/07\/generation-kill.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":5186,"url":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/filmstruck-trainspotting\/","url_meta":{"origin":779,"position":4},"title":"The treasures of FilmStruck include the Trainspotting commentary track","author":"Chad Ossman","date":"November 17, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Trainspotting is a lifelong personal favorite film. Essential. FilmStruck subscribers should be sure to catch it one more time before before WarnerMedia and AT&T cruelly shut it down on November 29. FilmStruck is full of more invaluable treasures than anyone could watch in two weeks, but I must single out\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Movies"","block_context":{"text":"Movies","link":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/category\/main-menu\/movies\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Trainspotting","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/trainspotting-filmstruck.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/trainspotting-filmstruck.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/trainspotting-filmstruck.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/trainspotting-filmstruck.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/trainspotting-filmstruck.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1597,"url":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/the-george-a-romero-zombie-cycle-part-1-night-of-the-living-dead\/","url_meta":{"origin":779,"position":5},"title":"The George A. Romero Zombie Cycle Part 1: Night of the Living Dead","author":"Chad Ossman","date":"February 16, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"I haven't had the pleasure of seeing what is now recognized as the first zombie movie ever made: White Zombie (1932), starring none other than Bela Lugosi. But arguably, George A. Romero's Night of the Living Dead (1968) is the actual zombie urtext. It preceded the first of its four\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "2 Stars"","block_context":{"text":"2 Stars","link":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/category\/ratings\/2-stars\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Night of the Living Dead","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/02\/night-of-the-living-dead-feature.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/02\/night-of-the-living-dead-feature.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/02\/night-of-the-living-dead-feature.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/02\/night-of-the-living-dead-feature.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/02\/night-of-the-living-dead-feature.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/779","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=779"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/779\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6220,"href":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/779\/revisions\/6220"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4875"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=779"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=779"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=779"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}