ongoing

 "Before the Devil Knows You're Dead" is many things - and many things we won't tell you here. We'll tell you it's a stupendous late-in-life film (must we call it a comeback?) by director Sidney Lumet, a stellar acting performance by Philip Seymour Hoffman (and, well, frankly Ethan Hawke and the whole damn cast), and that it's a movie about intersecting, interweaving downward spirals. There's a bit of tat-a-tat-tat time-shifting/editiing a la "Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels," but you're never lost in non-linearity or overwhelmed by the cleverness of it all. "Before the Devil Knows You're Dead" concerns mostly Hoffman's character, a businessman who's done bad - by his company, by himself, by his wife - and his desparate attempt to rescue himself from, at least, the financial hurt of it all. He has an idea that will make everything all right, and, as the movie's ad tag line reads, "Nobody was supposed to get hurt." But he's not a professional criminal - or at least not a professional when it comes to violence. He brings in his weak-willed brother (Hawke) and, let's just say, that what you get is the fallout from a bungled robbery and the crushing toll it takes on everyone. And that's where we're going to stop. We'll just say that if you're like us you'll be in its grip from beginning to end, and recognize the sinking feeling that pervades the movie is not going to turn around and make you leave the theater with a smile. This is a somber, disturbing movie on multiple levels ... and it's a must-see. And, Lord, how we hate it when people write crap like this, but Hoffman may just have another Oscar in his future. At the Coolidge Corner Theatre screening room and the Capitol in Arlington. We guess this is perceived as a niche movie by the theater chains. We'll see. Maybe it is too much of an art-film downer for middle America at Christmas-time; or maybe, like "Crash," it will just catch a fire. Tickets: $9.50. Check website below for show times.

290 Harvard St., Brookline, 617-734-2500 www.coolidge.org 

204 Massachusetts Ave., Arlington, 781-648-4340