DVD Voice

Before The Devil Knows Your Dead [bluray] is interesting film by Sidney Lumet (Dog Day Afternoon [bluray]) held my attention pretty well through it. Normally not liking non-linear films, the kind that bounce around forwards and backwards in time, however I do like that approach when it goes back to reveal motivations of characters. This film though, baffles me — and not because it isn’t good but rather for some of the “issues” it brings up.

Philip Seymour Hoffman (Charlie Wilson’s War), and Ethan Hawke (Lord of War [bluray]), star along with Albert Finney (Miller’s Crossing) and Marisa Tomei (My Cousin Vinny). The movie was well acted, the characters went about their life trying to solve their various problems in what I thought was a very realistic manner. All-in-all I enjoyed watching the movie.

Without giving anything away, Andy and his brother Hank plan a robbery to get some cash to solve their immediate needs. The robbery goes badly and, well, Rosemary Harris’ (Spider-Man [bluray]) character is killed during the robbery.

Her character is the brother’s mother. They are robbing their father’s jewelry store! This is where I am disturbed. How can someone be so evil as to even plan something like this in the first place - let alone of their parents, their own family. Why is it that people find it so easy to hurt, and far too often very deeply, or in this case, fatally the people they are supposed to love, care for, and hopefully protect the most?

So that’s what the film is about. There’s your essence. There are better heist movies out there. But for one that plumbs the depths of depravity of some human souls, and the way they go about systematically hurting, ignoring, saying things, and most importantly not saying the things they need to, well this is it. So many times you see characters reach out or exhibit emotional needs and the ones who should meet it are too preoccupied or too drugged, stressed out, or whatever to notice or even care.

It’s a sad state.

Oh, and by the way, this movie is rated R, so definitely not for the little kiddies. Sure we all want to see Marisa Tomei topless, but know its rated R for a reason.