As someone who loves seeing and hearing different points of view, and utimately waiting for the moment when they all converge, I enjoyed, "Before the Devil Knows Your Dead," even if the plot relies too heavily on viewers to fill in emotional blanks.
The story, which boils down to how far over the line - between good and evil - folks are willing to venture for money, is an intriguing one. The idea becomes even more complex when the potential sacrifice for money is not only morality, but family.
And tossing Phillip Seymour Hoffman into the lead role to illustrate the hypothetical is always a good move. Adding yet another distinct character to his repetoire, Hoffman is stellar as the ruthless, but somehow vaguely sympathetic Andy, who solicits his younger brother to rob their parents jewelry store.
The changing point of view, though not a new technique, also had a refreshing twist. Viewers travel back and forth in time, watching days unfold for each character, but not necessarily from each character's perspective. When we're given the textual cue that we'll be seeing Andy's day unfold, for example, we see him, not his point of view, i.e., the camera is focused on him, not what he's seeing.
The film is innovative, well acted and suspenseful, but leaves quite a bit to the viewers imagination. Character's don't necessarily make quick transformations, or many senses, any transformation, but they make serious, life-altering decisions, while the audience gets only snippets of their motivation.
Overall it's worth seeing for entertainment's sake, and as a conversation starter about morality, but don't look too deep in the film itself for answers.
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