Notes on…

Before the Devil Knows You're Dead(2007)

Dir. Directed by Sidney Lumet


While never for a moment soliciting our empathy, Mr. Hoffman makes us care about this man, the scale of whose ethical failures gives him a kind of negative grandeur. Besides, his self-hatred makes our disapproval seem a bit redundant.

A. O. Scott (The New York Times)

* * * * *

Synopsis: When two brothers organize the robbery of their parents' jewelry store, the job goes horribly wrong, triggering a series of events that send them and their family hurtling towards a shattering climax.