Lumet hasnt been this energetic and perceptive since The

Lumet hasnt been this energetic and perceptive since The Verdict, released two-and-a-half decades ago. This is no nostalgia trip taken by an 83-year-old director. Its a fierce, hot slap of a movie, a shameless melodrama with bite. Before The Devil Knows You’re Dead blu-ray This machine repeatedly threatens to rev up, but mostly just keeps slipping out of gear. The film has some powerful drama with Philip Seymour Hoffman turning in a superb performance. But the tone is relentlessly downbeat. a dark, dour, depressing dirge. Insightful, impeccably crafted crime drama with the moral undertones of classic Greek tragedy.