Before The Devil Knows You're DeadI'd never heard of this movie before I ran across it on Showtime the other night. The combination of Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Ethan Hawke, Albert Finney and Marisa Tomei was too intriguing to resist so I gave it a chance.
Those of you whapping the paddle to Tomei's stripper turn in The Wrestler? She's nekkid in this one, too, -- a super and unexpected bonus -- and she looks a hundred times better than she did in the other flick. Even if you care nothing for the story, it's worth fast forwarding to see her tight body.
The story itself had so much potential. Brothers conspire to rob parent's jewelry store, but the plot is bungled and it ends in the death of a family member.
There were good sequences and Hoffman's performance was quality. Overall, though, the movie took a great premise and dropped the ball.
Marissa's dalliance with Hawke -- completely miscast in this role -- wasn't credible and did nothing to advance the story. Had Hoffman's character actually taken the financial liberties with his employer we were led to believe, the response would have been much more agressive than a barrage of "you need to come talk to us" phone calls.
Hawke stood out like a sore thumb, completely unable to pull off the bumbling dumb brother act.
The ending was flat and didn't provide the resolution you'd expect from the drawn out emotional conflict.
I'd watch it again, but only to see Marissa naked. Since I can google that, it's not really necessary to sit through the flick.
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