Give props to Sidney Lumet. His influence is everywhere. American Gangster is just the kind of film this prince of New York City would have directed in the 1970s. And Tony Gilroy's Michael Clayton owes much to Lumet's Network and The Verdict. So it's a kick that Lumet, 83, puts the younger mavericks to shame with a dynamite film that ranks with the year's best. The topic is a family coming apart. The Hanson brothers, Andy (Philip Seymour Hoffman) and Hank (Ethan Hawke), are in debt and at each…

Proving why he's still an American classic, 83-year-old director Sidney Lumet turns in another brilliantly executed crime thriller. Before the Devil Knows You're Dead might be a downer but it's a real stunner.

Story

Sometimes the simplest of crimes are the ones that go the most awrya fact Andy (Philip Seymour Hoffman) and his younger brother Hank (Ethan Hawke) find out the hard way. You see, they both have money problems: Andy is an overextended payroll exec who has been embezzling from his…