It is difficult to get involved in Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead (2007) because all the characters are repulsive. The older brother is a sleazy executive with a serious drug addiction and a failing marriage. The younger brother is a gutless wimp trying to pay alimony. They decide to rob their parents’ jewellery store, and the older brother weasels out, and the younger one hires a petty criminal to do the job. No one is supposed to get hurt, but two people die and the family self-destructs.
The structure of the film makes it even more difficult to identify with the characters because, after the robbery, we get a series of flashbacks. We’ve already seen the tragedy; the flashbacks explain the why but do not generate empathy for the characters.
Then people start picking up some of the loose ends of the failed robbery, but should we feel anxious that the guys might get caught or should we hope they are tracked down, drawn, and quartered? If you’re not confused about which way to feel, you probably hope they will get caught, and the sings quickly multiply that they will get found out somehow. I’m not sure where the suspense comes in.
A minor character (a jeweller and a fence) states the movie’s salient theme: “The world is an evil place, Charlie. Some of us make money off of it; others get destroyed.” Yes, the movie says, life can be this bad. The stellar cast is constantly emoting, always distressed, nearly over-the-top. The sets are hard, harsh, and often in a cold light. The music is usually mechanical and constricted. The title gives fair warning: “Devil” and “Dead” are the two key words. This is a movie of relentless and ubiquitous evil.