Before the Devil Knows You're Dead (Grade C+)

I'm a big fan of Sidney Lumet's 1970s films (particularly Dog Day Afternoon and Network), and it thrilled me to hear that, at age 83, he's back in top form with his latest effort. Before the Devil Knows You're Dead - a modern American tragedy by way of a heist movie - has garnered great reviews and the seasoned Oscar predictors at http://www.awardsdaily.com/ have named it a contender in several major categories. I think it's one of the year's most overrated films, right along with the Bob Dylan biopic I'm Not There.

Kelly Masterson's screenplay concerns two derelict brothers (Philip Seymour Hoffman and Ethan Hawke) who royally botch their attempt to rob their parents' jewelry store. It uses a non chronological narrative style that Stephen Soderbergh used much more skillfully in his crime films Out of Sight (1998) and The Limey (1999). You'd think you couldn't go wrong with the likes of Hoffman, Marisa Tomei, Albert Finney and Hawke...okay maybe you could go wrong with Ethan, but he was really good in Training Day. The problem is that Lumet cranks up the melodrama so sky-high that the actors are in a perpetual state of angst that feels just as artificial as one-dimensional joyful characters in a mediocre comedy.

For all its faults, it must be said that Before the Devil Knows You're Dead is hard to shake. This particular web of greed, betrayal and violence is not spun brilliantly, but it's so insidious that you can't help but think about it and cringe the next day - especially if you're unlucky enough to remember the traumatic sight of Hoffman screwing Tomei doggy-style.