Before the Devil Knows You're Dead (2007)

In veteran director Sidney Lumet's fatalistic, neo-noirish, dramatic crime-thriller, it was basically a heist tale told with a non-linear narrative (with flashbacks) about two ill-fated brothers (representing "Cain and Abel" from the Genesis story), and the dichotomy of good and evil. The title of the film was taken from a familiar Irish saying: "May you be in heaven a full half-hour before the devil knows you're dead," hinting that the vapid and morally-evil characters were hell-bound. If they had a half-hour's headstart on their way to heaven, they might be able to escape from being caught by the "devil." The pressure upon the two brothers to avoid being caught after committing the film's heinous crime increased with every new revelation presented within the flashbacks.

The themes of the twisting, ultimately tragic film included betrayal, financial distress and greed, long-held family scars, and revenge. The two brothers were both pathetic and despicable human beings who were part of a very dysfunctional family. Their myopic plan - a get-out-of-debt scheme - was horribly misguided and foolish. The narrative jumped back and forth within the time period before and up to the film's opening pivotal event - the robbery of their family's own jewelry store, viewed in one of the first scenes, followed by flashbacks and chronological events in the present that eventually came together as the puzzle was being solved.

The slow-burning script was penned by American playwright-screenwriter Kelly Masterson, his first screenwriting credit. It turned out that it was the last film directed by the 82 year-old Lumet (with 43 feature films in his career), who died in 2011. The score by the great Carter Burwell matched the melodramatic events that unfolded.

On a budget of $18 million, Lumet's final film grossed revenues of $7 million (domestic) and $25 million (worldwide).

• in the opening scene, Andy Hanson (Philip Seymour Hoffman) (the "Cain" figure), a slobbish, burly and bulky, heart-challenged male was on vacation with his beautiful, dark-haired trophy wife Gina (Marisa Tomei) in an exotic Rio de Janiero hotel room in Brazil surrounded by mirrors; in the sequence, he was making vigorous, primal love to her from behind [Note: This particular scene has been rated as one of the worst sex scenes ever filmed.] Andy mentioned to her how their stimulated love life was similar to the movie Blame It On Rio (1984) - with a plot about how a middle-aged Matthew Hollis (Michael Caine) took a similar holiday in Rio where his life was spiced up by a teenaged 16 year-old sexpot named Jennifer Lyons (Michelle Johnson)
• the couple fantasized about staying in Brazil, if they had the money, for the rest of their lives; she admitted that her life was better away from home: "I don't feel like such a f--k-up when I'm here, that's all"; the title screen appeared

On Vacation in Rio in Brazil, Andy Hanson (Philip Seymour Hoffman) with His Younger Trophy Wife Gina (Marisa Tomei)

• the film's pivotal event thought up mostly by Andy and presented to his skinny brother Henry "Hank" Hanson (Ethan Hawke) (the "Abel" brother) was a daring heist (which was thoroughly botched and didn't proceed as planned); it occurred in the next sequence; it was a "crazy" Saturday morning hold-up of a Westchester, NY suburban strip-mall jewelry store known as Hanson's Jewelers; just before the robbery, Mrs. Nanette Hanson (Rosemary Harris), the mother of the two protagonist brothers and one of the store's owners, was called in to work at the last minute as it turned out; she was dropped off at the store by her husband - Hank's view of her entering the store was partially blocked by a UPS truck
• to help carry out the theft, an experienced, armed professional accomplice Bobby Lasorda (Brían F. O'Byrne) had been hired (privately by Hank) to carry out the simple act of the robbery; unexpectedly, when rifling through the jewelry display cases, Bobby was distracted, and Nanette took the opportunity to use a hidden weapon to shoot back at the masked Bobby and wound him; he retaliated by mortally wounding her, but not before she shot him a second deadly time; his body was propelled backwards through the shattered front door; the disguised brother Hank, awaiting outside with a getaway rental car, sped off, frantically cursing and blaming his brother Andy for the catastrophe; ultimately, there were two unexpected fatalities, Bobby and Mrs. Hanson
• from this point, events started to alternate between the past and the present, with multiple FLASHBACKS and FLASH-FORWARDS (with additional elements added)

Andy Hanson (Philip Seymour Hoffman) (the "Cain" brother)

Hank Hanson (Ethan Hawke) (the "Abel" brother)

• in the film's transition to three days before the robbery, Hank's dire financial situation was revealed; overall, he was a deadbeat, weak and indecisive individual, who had a lower-level job in the same company as his brother Andy; although well-meaning and in love with his young daughter Danielle (Sarah Livingston), he faced insurmountable debts due to child support demands from his vindictive and bitter ex-wife Martha (Amy Ryan), and tuition payments for his daughter's school; he was three months behind on the payments to his wife
• in a mid-town Manhattan bar, the two brothers Hank and Andy met, revealing Andy as a smooth-talking and scheming, and heavily-indebted finance broker-accountant for a New York real-estate firm, while Hank was more of an introspective follower; both brothers were desperately in need of cash for debts and other obligations; the ruthlessly-manipulative mastermind Andy proposed a scheme to solve their mutual problems:
  • "Well, you need money. So do I. Let's solve it... Well, there's a place we can knock off. Know it like the back of our hand. Easiest money you'll ever get"
• Andy didn't mention that he was referring to the robbery of their parents' suburban jewelry store worth $600 grand; this would be a convenient 'victimless' crime, due to the store's insurance: ("So, it's safe, nobody gets hurt, everybody wins. It's perfect"); Andy was counting on the jewelry store's insurance to reimburse and compensate his parents - an easy way to justify the loss; he was also hoping that the jewelry store robbery would net the two of them $120,000 dollars to split evenly
• meanwhile, Andy's restless, miserable, frustrated and reckless wife Gina was visiting her brother-in-law Hank on a weekly basis to have sex in his dumpy apartment; Gina's relationship with her distracted and emotionally-cold and impotent husband Andy had already grown distant, mostly due to his preoccupation with his financial problems and other nefarious drug-related activities
• after another typical clandestine sexual tryst, Hank urged Gina to run away with him and escape his debts and the myriad disastrous problems in his life, but she reminded him of his responsibilities (child support, his daughter, the rent, etc.); in the kitchen as Gina stood topless before Hank, she told him: "When are you going to grow up, Hank? We have a really good thing going, and you should just enjoy it. We have a really good time in bed. I don't ask for anything"; he responded plaintively: "I love you. I want more"; she seductively and sensuously approached him and said: "So does, uh, Oliver Twist. Can I help you to seconds, or do you really, really, really have to get back? Huh?"

Hank: "I love you. I want more." Gina: "So, does, uh, Oliver Twist. Can I help you to seconds...?"

• shortly later, after Hank vowed that he was "in" on Andy's heist plan, the flabbergasted Hank learned that the targeted mom-and-pop jewelry store was the one owned by their parents; Andy further elaborated: "It's perfect. In and out in a minute. Insurance takes care of Mom and Dad, so they're not hurt. Right? No one's going to give a shit. After a week the cops - will put it in the back of the filing cabinet... it'll solve everything for both of us"; without describing his own debts (and his desire "to start over again"), the domineering Andy sat above Hank after handing him a $2,000 advance to entice him to join and immediately execute their plan, after arguing that both of their financial problems were "pressing"
• without conferring with his older brother Andy, Hank went ahead and hired a waiter-acquaintance to rob the store with him - a pot-smoking, professional hit-man named Bobby; the two parked outside the store in a rented white 2004 Chevrolet Impala to avoid detection; Hank had donned a black wig, sunglasses, and mustache; just before the robbery, Bobby refused to have Hank assist him during the heist and then showed him his gun: "I'm going to do this on my own....I got all the help I need"; he promised there would be no shooting
• in a playback of the robbery, a large UPS truck blocked Hank's view of the storefront, as Nanette was dropped off on an early Saturday morning by her husband; while awaiting Bobby inside the store, Hank heard three gunshots before Bobby's body was propelled through the store's front door onto the sidewalk; he frantically sped off; he phoned Andy in his office with the bad news: "It just came apart, Andy. Oh my God, Andy!"
• the film transitioned to four days before the robbery, revealing that Andy was having serious money issues, and that he was addicted to snorting heroin (even in his office during work hours); during a business conference, Andy was informed that a few days from then, on Monday, his payroll department was going to be the first one audited by the IRS; at that point, payroll executive Andy realized he needed a plan to escape expected embezzlement charges and a string of other fraudulent white-collar criminal activities about to be uncovered by an upcoming IRS audit and his company's boss Jake (Lee Wilkof)
• later in the day, Andy visited the high-rise apartment of his effeminate heroin dealer Justin (Blaine Horton) wearing a flowery dressing gown; in a lengthy and wordless sequence before his fix, Andy unbuttoned his shirt, poured himself a drink, and stared out the window as the MGM-Tex Avery animated cartoon Herky Jerky (1945) played on a wall-mounted TV screen; in a back bedroom, Andy was administered a high-dose fix of heroin by Justin to satisfy his high-end, expensive drug habit; afterwards, he mused to his disinterested (and unemotional) drug-enabler sitting far behind him about his incomplete life: "My life, it, uh, it doesn't add up. It's - nothing connects to anything else. It's - I'm not the sum of my parts. All of my parts don't add up to one, to one me, I guess"; from afar, Justin suggested that Andy acquire a wife or a shrink

Heroin Dealer Justin Administering a Heroin Fix to Andy in a High-Rise Apartment

Andy's Monologue About His Incomplete Life to His Disinterested Dealer

Andy With Gina - Obviously They Had An Empty and Unfulfilling Marriage

• during another failed and impotent sexual encounter with Gina, Andy realized he was sexually deficient: "It's another strikeout"; she also realized their marriage was empty: "I'm a lousy cook. The house looks like s--t. I'm a lousy lay, I don't know why you wanna keep me"; he was fantasizing that they could move (or escape) to live in Rio to restore their relationship; she guessed it might be due to his corrupt business dealings "because there is no extradition agreement between Brazil and the United States...I saw it in a movie"; he continued to dream: "I just want us to get back there. I've seen Heaven, Gina, it's a nice place to stay"
• after hatching a get-rich scheme (in his imagination) to get himself out of debt, Andy visited his old NYC jewelry fence William (Leonardo Cimino) in the diamond district around 47th Street in downtown, to be sure he was still in business; as Andy left, he handed William his business card and promised: "I'll be back"
• during a replay of the hatched plan between Andy and Hank after Hank received a $2,000 advance, Andy described how he couldn't be directly involved (since his face was familiar in the area), but that Hank could easily pull it off ("You can do it. Anybody can...This is our future"); he recommended that Hank acquire a "toy gun," since an armed robbery wasn't necessary; and due to his knowledge of the store's employees, he stated how - to their advantage - elderly "blind as a bat" store clerk Doris would be working the Saturday shift
• in the next sequence, after the botched robbery, Hank and Andy rushed to the hospital where they were stunned to learn that a "Nanette Hanson" had been brought in 3 hours earlier - both unconscious and with serious gunshot wounds and was being treated in the ICU; the two brothers and Gina met with the Hanson's distressed patriarchal father Charles Hanson (Albert Finney) in the hospital waiting room
• the film again transitioned to one day before the robbery, with the revelation that Nanette Hanson was filling in at the jewelry store until Saturday noon for the elderly Doris, who had a last-minute babysitting responsibility for her daughter; after a visit to the DMV, when Charles returned to the store at noon, he realized it had become a crime scene; he rushed over to visit his wife at the hospital who was in a coma and on life-support
• the newspaper identified the dead robber as a 26 year-old "punk" from Red Hook, NY; reacting to the awful and inexplicable crime, Andy's and Hank's bereaved father took it upon himself to find out more about his wife's murderer, unaware that his two sons were the ones responsible!; due to his frustrations (or his poor eyesight), he backed into a parked police car; Charles had to make the difficult decision to remove Nanette from life-support; a cemetery funeral service and wake at the family's suburban home were held for Mrs. Hanson; at the same time, Charles was becoming increasingly agitated that the police were not properly investigating the case
• in the next series of scenes, Hank: on the day of the robbery - after the failed robbery, Hank wiped down the prints on the rental car before returning it late in the day on Saturday; then, during a phone call with his daughter Danielle, he told her that he didn't have the money that he had earlier promised to pay for her overnight school outing to see The Lion King, costing $130 dollars; she told him off: "If you weren't going to pay for it, you should have just said so, and saved me the humiliation of having to tell all my friends that you're a loser"
• enraged by the botched killing, Andy phoned his brother to berate him: "What the f--k were you doing with that f--kin' asshole?... I didn't say anything about a f--king gun, God damn it"; at Mooney's bar, Andy questioned Hank to figure out if they were in the clear, and hopefully concluded: "If they don't connect the car to us, we're probably okay," but he didn't know that Hank lied that he hadn't seen anyone at Bobby's place when he picked him up; in fact, Hank had been seen by Bobby's wife Chris Lasorda (Aleksa Palladino); there was further cause for alarm when Hank received a phone call from the rental agency that he had left a personal item in the car after returning it
• in addition, at the restaurant where Bobby worked, Bobby's brother-in-law Dex (Michael Shannon), the brother of Bobby's widowed wife Chris - now a single mother - wanted answers from Hank about why Bobby had been killed doing "work" for him; Hank's lame excuse was that all he was doing was helping Bobby to rent a car on Friday night; using blackmail, Dex pressured Hank to provide financial compensation ($10,000 dollars) by the day after the next at 8 pm, or otherwise, he threatened to either tell the authorities or use physical violence; at loose ends, Hank asked for a temporary loan from his divorced wife Martha, and even contemplated ending his life with an overdose of pills; the next day, he left the family wake early, visited the rental agency and picked up Bobby's CD (a favorite energizing rock song) that had been left in the car - without any expected issues
• in the next series of scenes: Andy: on the day of the robbery - after Andy sat at the bedside of his comatose mother in the hospital, his boss Jake called on Sunday with a message to alert him that "a few problems" had been uncovered by the IRS's audit; a second message was also left about the same issues and irregularities in Andy's payroll finances at the company (terminated employees were still being paid, and he had not paid the O ASDI taxes); Andy was ignoring the calls and any attempts to contact him; he attempted to visit his heroin dealer, but without an appointment, he was denied entry; shortly later on the same day, he was allowed in for another heroin fix due to the tragedy of his mother dying; afterwards, Andy confronted Hank and put all the blame on him for their mutual predicament: "I should f--king kill you. How are we going to fix it so your s--t don't fall on my shoes?"
• during the wake in the backyard of the Hanson's suburban home, Andy's strained relationship with his father was revealed; Andy's father expressed his apology about how he couldn't live up to his son's expectations for him, and hadn't been able to show much affection or support: ("I'm sorry I wasn't able to be what you wanted me to be...I wasn't able to be the father you wanted. But I guess I wanted you to be better than me"); Andy also apologized: ("I'm sorry I wasn't able to be the son you wanted"), and then showed his personal hurt over how he felt that his hated brother Hank had always been the favored, younger child; he also questioned his biological heritage: ("I never felt like I was part of the club....You sure I'm your son?"), causing his father to snap and slap him across the face [Note: Was Andy's choice to rob his father's jewelry store an indication of veiled revenge against his father?]
• after leaving the wake in a car with Gina, Andy had a severe psychological and nervous break-down due to the stresses and strains resulting from his corruption, the overwhelming guilt closing in on him, his estrangement from his father, and his increasing insecurities about life: ("It's not fair!...He can't just say he's sorry and make it all go away")
• the next day on Sunday in their city apartment, Gina (with her packed bags) reminded Andy that there were messages being ignored from his boss; she then announced that she was breaking up with him and leaving him for good: ("Something has to change... I mean that this just isn't working....The life that we have. It was really bad before Rio and now it's even worse. You never tell me anything that's going on anymore"); she felt that he was closed off to her, especially recently since the store robbery

Before Breaking Up With Andy, Gina Revealed to Him That She Was Cheating with His Brother Hank

• then, Gina delivered a bombshell about her own deceptions to extract an emotional reaction from him - she divulged her sexual affair with Andy's own brother Hank: ("Do you realize that I've been having an affair?...Means I've been f--king another guy. Every Thursday, me and your brother, Hank. We get together and we f--k. Not only that, he loves me. And he still finds me attractive. All the time. Not just on vacation"); her effort to elicit a response failed - she asked: "Aren't you gonna say anything? Are you gonna get angry?"; Andy barely reacted - but gave her support money from his wallet as she left in a cab to be taken to her mother's place; in a delayed reaction in their bedroom, he stripped the sheets and pillows off the bed, and cleared items on two table-tops; in the living room, he also dumped a bowl of rocks onto a glass table-top, defacing its surface
• in the next series of scenes: Charles: one week after the robbery - as part of Charles' dogged search and investigation into the robbery, he contacted his detested NYC jewelry fence William whom he had known for decades; he was the same person who Andy was planning to work with (after the robbery); the stunned Charles realized, after being handed Andy's business card, that Andy was involved in the jewelry store robbery due to greed ("The world is an evil place, Charlie"); from now on, Charles began tracking Andy's and Hank's whereabouts
• the film's bloody climax was the result of Andy's paranoid efforts to cover up the trail of evidence, and to silence Hank's blackmailing creditor Dex, in order to alleviate his money problems; on impulse on Monday morning, Andy packed some clothes, grabbed his passport (with plans to flee the country to Brazil), and hailed a taxi - he didn't know that his father was secretly tailing him; he briefly visited his office to pick up some stashed cash, and ignored a co-worker's pleas to attend a conference meeting in progress with the IRS
• after a visit to a travel agent's office - revealing Andy's ultimate intention to escape abroad, Andy headed to Hank's place and pressured him to join him in fixing things; the two took a taxi to the high-rise of his heroin dealer Justin; both Andy and Hank confronted Justin in his penthouse apartment and beat him unconscious; the increasingly-deranged Andy then entered the back bedroom and silenced his weapon's discharge with a pillow as he killed the innocent, semi-naked, overweight client, a heroin junkie, lying unconscious on the drug dealer's bed (after an injection-dose); the murder was possibly due to hidden jealousy over the dealer's relationship to the man, or as an expression of his own self-hatred; then after filling Andy's bag with heroin and stacks of cash, to Hank's surprise, Andy also shot and murdered his long-time dealer Justin; as they left, the completely-unhinged, and overweight Andy kept wiping fingerprints from the front door handles as he struggled to make his way out of the apartment
• Hank and Andy had also made plans to meet with Dex and pay him off with the stolen money from the dealer; in Bobby's apartment, the extremely-agitated Andy impulsively and lethally shot Dex to end his blackmail demands - Andy had now killed three individuals; when Andy was also poised to kill Dex's wife Chris, Hank firmly objected when he heard the crying of Chris' baby in the apartment, who had reacted to the gunshot
• Andy turned and targeted his hatred toward his brother Hank - using his newfound knowledge of the cheating relationship that Hank had been having with his unfaithful wife Gina; as Hank urged Andy to seek retribution and kill him: ("Do it. Go ahead. Come on. You'd be doing me a favor"), a gun-blast sounded - but not from Andy's gun; the distracted Andy was severely injured when shot in the back by Bobby's widowed wife Chris, who had grabbed Dex's gun; Hank hurriedly fled after Chris urged him to get out, but first he reached for some of the pay-off blackmail money from Andy's bag to give her
• Charles had followed Hank and Andy and watched as they entered Bobby's apartment; he also watched the aftermath as Hank fled from the apartment; he called out to Hank to stop, but was ignored; as Charles pulled away, he was trapped by arriving police cars and an EMT ambulance; he watched - frozen with shock - as the seriously-injured Andy was wheeled out and taken by paramedics to the hospital
• after Charles entered the hospital room of his estranged son, Andy apologized and attempted to make amends with his father; he mentioned the store robbery and key details (including the fact that Nanette wasn't supposed to be there) - thus implicating himself in the crime: ("I never meant to hurt her. I just needed money. There wasn't supposed to be any gun. And she wasn't supposed to be in the store. Everything just went wrong")

Charles' Vengeful Mercy-Killing of His Own Wayward Son

• although Charles seemed to calmly react to Andy's attempt at reconciliation ("It's okay, Andy. It's okay"), he was deeply disappointed by his son's actions; he vengefully took justice into his own hands (and simultaneously spared Andy from a long jail sentence); with Andy sinking into unconsciousness, he removed Andy's oxygen tube and heart monitor (and attached it to his own bare chest); and then he went ahead and suffocated Andy to death with a pillow - for his role in killing Nanette; he then reattached the tube and monitor, and called for help (a code blue) before walking off into the bright white light of a hospital hallway
• there was no resolution in the ambiguous ending; Hank had the money, but would he escape retribution or even his own emotional traumatization, since he was also responsible for his mother's death