Move aside, boys, and let the master show you how it's done.

"Before the Devil Knows You're Dead," directed by Sidney Lumet, gives lie to the adage that movies are a young man's game, Hollywood just a big sandbox for arrested adolescents in thrall to their own thwarted sexuality and scatological obsessions. At the spry age of 83, Lumet proves not only that he has the same touch for the taut, crackling action he brought to such career-makers as "Dog Day Afternoon" and "Network," but also that he has mastered postmodern storytelling and emerging technology.

This is no nostalgic throwback to the mini golden age of the 1970s, when Lumet made his mark. It's not a lean, realist drama but an overblown, florid one, full of bloody conflict and filial dynamics. This is the story of two brothers, one strong, one weak, whose desperation and greed lead them down an increasingly depraved path.

Philip Seymour Hoffman plays Andy, the alpha bro', a high-living executive with a curvaceous wife (Marisa Tomei) and a strenuous desire to please her; Ethan Hawke (see In Focus on Page 39) is Hank, not nearly as successful, trying to keep his harridan of an ex-wife off his back and some kind of relationship with his daughter. Both men have money issues, which is why Andy approaches Hank with a plan to get more. It's a simple plan. In fact, remember "A Simple Plan"? It's a simple plan like that simple plan, which means it turns out to be not simple at all.

What makes the film such a riveting experience is Hoffman, who as the villain -- or at least biggest villain -- delivers a tour de force performance. Sweaty, overweight, always slightly flushed, it's hard to believe he could be described as seductive, but that's precisely what Andy is as he lures the passive Hank into his own twisted mind game. The scenes between the two are Shakespearean in their undercurrents and overtones, and Hoffman masters every one of them. Hawke is just as assured, if not as showy, in the thankless role of the callow Hank.

In addition to being a study in great acting, this is a study in great directing. Filming with several high-definition digital video cameras, Lumet weaves in and out of the action, proving to be as adroit with new technology as he was with old-school celluloid.

-- Ann Hornaday (Nov. 2, 2007)

Contains a scene of strong graphic sexuality, nudity, violence, drug use and profanity.