Before the Devil Knows You're Dead

From my Sidney Lumet marathon, part 8 of 8.



Before the Devil Knows You're Dead, 2007. Two brothers rob their parents' jewelry store.

Directed by Sidney Lumet. Written by Kelly Masterson. Starring Philip Seymour Hoffman, Ethan Hawke, Albert Finney & Marisa Tomei.

Concept: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Story: 3/4 (Good). Nearly great, but two of the main characters have no resolution.
Characters: 3/4 (Good)
Dialog: 3/4 (Good)
Pacing: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Cinematography: 3/4 (Good)
Special effects/design: 3/4 (Good)
Acting: 4/4 (Great)
Music: 4/4 (Great)
Subjective Rating: 7/10 (Good, 3/4). Too long, but very good. If it had been promoted as a drama (which it is) instead of an action thriller (which it is decidedly not), it would probably have a much better reputation.
Objective Rating (Average): 3.0/4 (Good)

The Verdict

From my Sidney Lumet marathon, part 7 of 8.



The Verdict, 1982. A washed-up lawyer takes a suit to trial that he should have settled out of court.

Directed by Sidney Lumet. Written by David Mamet, based on a book by Barry Reed. Starring Paul Newman.

Concept: 1/4 (Bad)
Story: 3/4 (Good)
Characters: 3/4 (Good)
Dialog: 4/4 (Great)
Pacing: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Cinematography: 3/4 (Good)
Special effects/design: 3/4 (Good)
Acting: 4/4 (Great)
Music: 4/4 (Great)
Subjective Rating: 8/10 (Great, 4/4). One of the best movies you've never heard of. As far as I can tell from the internet, everyone who's seen it regards it as a masterpiece; the problem is, almost no one has seen it. Which is understandable. An 80's legal drama about a medical malpractice suit? Who cares? I sure never would have watched it if I hadn't done a little research into Lumet's filmography for this marathon. But it's one of his (and Newman's) best films.
Objective Rating (Average): 3.1/4 (Very good)

The Wiz

From my Sidney Lumet marathon, part 6 of 8.



The Wiz, 1978. A New Yorker is thrown by a blizzard/tornado into an urban fantasy world.

Directed by Sidney Lumet. Written by Joel Schumacher, from a musical by William F. Brown, based on a book by L. Frank Baum. Starring Diana Ross, Michael Jackson, Nipsey Russell & Ted Ross.

Concept: 4/4 (Great)
Story: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Characters: 1/4 (Bad)
Dialog: 1/4 (Bad)
Pacing: 0/4 (Terrible)
Cinematography: 0/4 (Terrible). It literally hurt my eyes trying to see what was going on. The way it's lit, it's like someone is shining a light on your screen.
Special effects/design: 3/4 (Good). A lot of it is great, but it comes up short on the technical side sometimes.
Acting: 1/4 (Bad)
Music: 2/4 (Indifferent). Great singing, of course. Great arrangements (by Quincy Jones). Terrible songs.
Subjective Rating: 2/10 (Terrible, 0/4). Everything about this movie should have made for greatness, but it just doesn't work. It's joyless and tedious. Exhaustingly tedious.
Objective Rating (Average): 1.4/4 (Bad)

Network

From my Sidney Lumet marathon, part 5 of 8.



Network, 1976. A television network keeps a disgruntled news anchor on the air as he loses his mind.

Directed by Sidney Lumet. Written by Paddy Chayefsky. Starring Faye Dunaway, William Holden, Peter Finch & Robert Duvall.

Concept: 4/4 (Great)
Story: 3/4 (Good)
Characters: 3/4 (Good)
Dialog: 4/4 (Great)
Pacing: 3/4 (Good)
Cinematography: 3/4 (Good)
Special effects/design: 3/4 (Good)
Acting: 4/4 (Great)
Music: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Subjective Rating: 8/10 (Great, 4/4). Funny, tense, bizarre, and just plain awesome.
Objective Rating (Average): 3.3/4 (Very good)

(update of a previous post - original is here)

Dog Day Afternoon

From my Sidney Lumet marathon, part 4 of 8.



Dog Day Afternoon, 1975. Inept bank robbers end up taking hostages.

Directed by Sidney Lumet. Written by Frank Pierson, based on an article by P.F. Kluge & Thomas Moore. Starring Al Pacino.

Concept: 4/4 (Great)
Story: 4/4 (Great)
Characters: 4/4 (Great)
Dialog: 4/4 (Great)
Pacing: 4/4 (Great)
Cinematography: 3/4 (Good)
Special effects/design: 3/4 (Good)
Acting: 4/4 (Great)
Music: 4/4 (Great). There's no score, and no room for improvement there.
Subjective Rating: 9/10 (One of my favorites, 4/4 5/4). Continuously intense, but also a lot of fun - a rare combination.
Objective Rating (Average): 3.8/4 3.9/4 (Great)

(update of a previous post - original is here)

Murder on the Orient Express

From my Sidney Lumet marathon, part 3 of 8.



Murder on the Orient Express, 1974. Whodunit on a train.

Directed by Sidney Lumet. Written by Paul Dehn, based on a book by Agatha Christie. Starring Albert Finney.

Concept: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Story: 2/4 (Indifferent). Works well as far as the mystery is concerned, but not so well dramatically. The fact that those are two separate things pretty well sums up why I'm not an Agatha Christie fan.
Characters: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Dialog: 4/4 (Great)
Pacing: 1/4 (Bad)
Cinematography: 3/4 (Good)
Special effects/design: 3/4 (Good)
Acting: 3/4 (Good). With a great but small performance by Ingrid Bergman. Most everyone else is very good as well, but no one has much material to work with apart from comedy.
Music: 1/4 (Bad). And still in my goddamn head.
Subjective Rating: 6/10 (Okay, 2/4). It's amusing and fun when the plot is moving, which it often isn't.
Objective Rating (Average): 2.3/4 (Okay)

Serpico

From my Sidney Lumet marathon, part 2 of 8.



Serpico, 1973. A cop puts himself in danger by refusing to take bribes.

Directed by Sidney Lumet. Written by Waldo Salt & Norman Wexler, based on a book by Peter Maas. Starring Al Pacino.

Concept: 1/4 (Bad)
Story: 3/4 (Good)
Characters: 3/4 (Good)
Dialog: 3/4 (Good)
Pacing: 3/4 (Good)
Cinematography: 3/4 (Good)
Special effects/design: 3/4 (Good)
Acting: 4/4 (Great)
Music: 1/4 (Bad)
Subjective Rating: 7/10 (Good, 3/4). An excellent, extremely well-made movie (although a disproportionate amount of the credit for that probably has to go to Pacino). Personally, though, I just can't get much out of the Innocent Man Stands Up To Gross Injustice trope.
Objective Rating (Average): 2.7/4 (Good)

(12 Angry Men)

From my Sidney Lumet marathon, part 1 of 8.

12 Angry Men, 1957. I've got nothing new to add to my earlier post (from November 2010), except to bump my subjective rating up from 8/10 to 9. Linkity.

VSM: Sidney Lumet

This marathon should go pretty fast; we own a copy of half of these movies.

Very Slow Marathon #11 - Sidney Lumet
[note: You can find this list from the sidebar, under "Very Slow Marathons."]

1. 12 Angry Men, 1957
2. Serpico, 1973
3. Murder on the Orient Express, 1974
4. Dog Day Afternoon, 1975
5. Network, 1976
6. The Wiz, 1978
7. The Verdict, 1982
8. Before the Devil Knows You're Dead, 2007