Before the Devil Knows You're Dead

There was one question that I kept asking myself while watching Sidney Lumet's Before the Devil Knows You're Dead.

Is talent timeless?

The superb crime thriller proves that the Sidney Lumet, 84, still delivers. Taking its title from an Irish toast, May you be 40 years in heaven before the devil knows you are dead, the film deals with two brothers, Philip Seymour Hoffman and Ethan Hawke who decide to rob their father's store in order to get their lives back on track. It was supposed to be a simple in-and-out kind of a deal in which no one was supposed to get hurt but like in all good movies, someone does get hurt and everything falls apart. The film also features Albert Finney as the father and Marisa Tomei as Hoffman's troubled wife. Lumet skillfully intercuts between parallel stories that keep converging throughout the film. Some might find the pacing of the film a little tedious but that shouldn't really bother as you'd be rewarded many a times. My moment came an hour and twenty minutes in the film where Hoffman and Finney open up with the son so pissed off with his father that he actually asks him if here were really his son.

For anyone who has followed Sidney Lumet's career Before the Devil Knows shouldn't come as a surprise. The film has all the essential Lumet markings- a great cast, excellent interplay between characters and lot of moments. What is surprising is that the legendary filmmaker has used HD technology for this film and reportedly enjoyed the freedom that video has to offer so much that he has decided not to touch film again. Lumet's film always give the actors ample opportunity to let it all out and this one's no exception. Never in the recent past has Ethan Hawke got such a complicated character and he is picture-perfect as the loser of a baby brother to Hoffman. Albert Finney hams it a bit but then I always believed that Mr. Finney couldn’t perform unless he has a spotlight following him. Hoffman, who of late has been grunting through his performances like Marlon Brando's ghost (Charlie Wilson's War being the latest), is perfect as the cocksure planner who looses it by the end.

Sidney Lumet always came across as a craftsman more than an artist and this film is executed with much vigor and enthusiasm. The multi-layered screenplay gets Lumet to observe his characters from a distance and real close as if they were some animals trapped in a cage. The film convinces me that talent has the potential to be timeless. Most filmmakers, as they age, start to believe that they know the craft better. Hell some start thinking that they are the craft! One can still do the same number provided one makes certain considerations with the passage of time. Look at Lumet, Clint Eastwood and to a great extent Martin Scorsese; these guys are doing exactly what they want and the only thing is that they keep up with times.

Closer home barring Yash Chopra everyone who is more than 5 films old refuses to move with the times. The last few outings of Subhash Ghai, Rajkumar Santoshi, Vinod Chopra, Ram Gopal Verma, Feroz Khan amongst others look like they are still churning them as if we were still in the 20th century!

Image: www.iwatchstuff.com