'BEFORE THE DEVIL KNOWS YOU'RE DEAD' IS ALIVE WITH SUSPENSE.

Byline: GLENN WHIPP 

>FILM CRITIC

Ang Lee can talk about the meaning behind all that NC-17 heavy breathing in "Lust, Caution," but if you want a sex scene with some real substance, check out the opening moments in Sidney Lumet's crackerjack crime thriller "Before the Devil Knows You're Dead."

Andy (Philip Seymour Hoffman) and Gina (Marisa Tomei) vigorously go at it in their room at a Bahamas vacation hotel, with Andy checking out his performance in the closet mirror. The married couple's elation is short-lived as they ponder why things are so good here when they're so lousy at home.

"Do you think that's it ... being away?" Gina asks, concealing her face from Andy. (She has her reasons for hiding, as we'll learn later.)

"I don't feel like such a (screw)-up when I'm here," Andy replies.

From there, Lumet immediately cuts to a bungled hold-up at a strip mall jewelry store. And from there, the movie's time-hopping narrative moves to a scene that takes place three days earlier when Andy and his kid brother Hank (Ethan Hawke) plan what was to be a "victimless crime" that will be a win-win for all concerned.

The 83-year-old Lumet ("Serpico," "Dog Day Afternoon,") has followed the lifetime achievement Oscar he received in 2005 with his best movie in ages, a film that again showcases his ability to create a scorching, tense drama from the seeds of betrayal.

Andy is desperate to hold on to that feeling he had with Gina in the Bahamas because, deep down, he believes she doesn't really love him.

That self-defeating fear harpoons his marriage and has him escaping into drugs. Andy also has been cooking the books at the real-estate firm where he works as an accountant. The IRS auditors are due to arrive in days.

Hence, the need for a quick infusion of cash. Andy turns to his younger brother because he knows Hank is strapped, too. Newly divorced, behind on child support payments and seriously drowning in the bottle, Hank knows better than to let his brother push his buttons. But knowing better and resisting temptation are two separate matters, and Hank isn't built for making sound life decisions. You also get the feeling Hank has a habit of taking the easy way out.

Lumet, working from a screenplay by Kelly Masterson (which he extensive revised), expertly pulls the noose tighter, flashing forward and back in time, revealing information that often contradicts our previously held assumptions.

The film overreaches at the end, trying a bit too hard to sell its Greek tragedy credentials, and its logic doesn't completely hold up to close scrutiny. But the high-wire acting and filmmaking more than make up for any minor faults. Lumet never loses his sense of compassion for these sad sacks sucked into the maw of debt and deception.

Glenn Whipp, [phone]

[e-mail]

BEFORE THE DEVIL KNOWS YOU'RE DEAD - Three and one half stars

>R: sex, violence, drug use, language.

>Starring: Philip Seymour Hoffman, Ethan Hawke.

>Director: Sidney Lumet.

>Running time: 2 hr. 3 min.

>Playing: Laemmle's Town Center 5 in Encino; Laemmle's Playhouse 7 in Pasadena; Landmark in West Los Angeles; Laemmle's Monica in Santa Monica; Laemmle's Sunset 5 in West Hollywood.

>In a nutshell: Sidney Lumet makes his best movie in ages, a crackerjack crime thriller that goes for the jugular.

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Photo:

Andy (Philip Seymour Hoffman, right) lures his brother, Hank (Ethan Hawke), into robbing a store in "Before the Devil Knows You're Dead."