Sidney Lumet's 'Before The Devil Knows Your Dead' (2007)

"You may be in heaven half an hour before the devil knows your dead". I liked this film for its use of low key lighting in important areas like Andy's office and the over all tone of the movie in its design and layout. Take for example the drug dealers apartment, here is an apartment with many differing colour schemes, one room is red and Burgundy brown while the bedroom is completely white. The same goes for the bar and its use of greens and dark brown colours. Lighting wise the exteriors are usually high key or slightly overexposed. The adding of white or noise when the gun is fired was also an interesting technique. I liked the way this thriller genre is to use twisting and complex plots, big story lines and surprise ending to capture the audiences attention far better than the normal Hollywood way of gruesome ways of killing people for entertainment. As in this film Andy and Henry attempt to rob a jewelry store later found out to be owned by their parents. This adds a new thriller element as we the viewer do not know what will happen if the parents (Charles) finds out that his wife is dead. I like how some of the characters lifes are threatened because they are involved in a dangerous situation, ie Andy because he is the mastermind of this situation or when Andy fires the scum thats blackmailing him. The way that the characters slowly come into conflict with each other over money, the death of mom, drugs and revenge for past wrongs is also quite entertaining.