Before The Devil Knows You're Dead

Philip Seymour Hoffman plays Andy, an overextended broker who lures his younger brother, Hank (Ethan Hawke) into a larcenous scheme. The pair will rob a suburban mom-and-pop jewelry store that appears to be an easy target. The problem is, the store owners are Andy and Hank's actual mom and pop and, when the seemingly perfect crime goes awry, the damage lands right at their doorstep.

The acting in this movie was so top notch. Philip Seymour Hoffman continues to cement himself as one of the best in Hollywood. Ethan Hawke and Albert Finney were also great. I don't really think that Marisa Tomei's character was necessary to the overall scope of the movie. They could have cut her out and saved 20 minutes of running time to make this movie even tighter. The intensity of it all was what really made this one of those movies that keeps your eyes glued to the screen the whole time. The storytelling of going back and forth between past and present was a little bit frustrating at first but then ended up being the movies best quality. All around - this was a really great film.

I would fully recommend everyone checking this bad boy out. It is definitely worth the rental.