A Lastluster Film at a Great Theatre
Nov 19th, 2007 by Alex
I saw Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead at The Charles Theatre this weekend. Two brothers plan to rob their parent’s jewelry store and it goes bad. Without giving away any details, this is a violent film that didn’t live up to my expectations. My expectations in this case being I saw the preview and thought “that’s looks pretty good, I’ll have to see it at some point.”
I did like The Charles. The style of of it reminds me of an earlier time before 62-screen megaplexes and $12 popcorn, where the theatre picked a few films that they thought were worth seeing (not that would be guaranteed to sell out every night). Renovated from a single marquee into a four screen venue, it still feels small in a good way. It isn’t filled with bright neon colors aimed to titillate your senses, the focus seems to be the films showing. “Slow down a bit. Not so fast.” That’s the vibe I got. I look forward to returning there and I’d love to see more places like it.
Aside from Marisa Tomei — seemingly hired for her nude scenes rather than her acting abilities — the cast was excellent. Philip Seymour Hoffman and Ethan Hawke play the two main characters, both sons to the father played by Albert Finney. I get the feeling that they agreed to work on the project because the director is the same that directed Serpico and people generally don’t bail on those sorts of chances. It’s a shame, because the storyline felt more contrived and less put together and polished then their earlier work.
I found myself feeling uneasy about laughing about the characters lives falling apart. It wasn’t comical and you felt bad about it and it was just hard to believe that it could get any worse for them. And worse. And worse still. Unlike other violent movies that left me thinking “wow, that was good,” this one left me wanting to go watch a lighthearted comedy or Looney Tunes. Unless you’re a diehard fan of Sidney Lumet or any of the cast members (such that you’re required to see all their work), I’d skip this one.
You’d love the Maryland Film Festival, then, or Cinema Sundays at The Charles.
ps - It’s actually a five screen venue now - the four new screens plus the one original.