"Andy... that's Mom and Dad's store"
Two brothers (Phillip Seymour Hoffman & Ethan Hawke) in
very different situations but both desperately in need of money decide to rob
their parents Jewellery store. As you’d expect the heist goes wrong and leaves
one family member dead while the others try to come to terms with the
consequences.
I don’t want to give anymore away than that as spoilers
are like a minefield with this film. It is presented in a non linier way with
scenes chopping back and forth through the narrative, often from different
perspectives. It’s never difficult to follow though. While the back and forth
storytelling was interesting I didn’t feel that the different points of view
made a difference. I had never heard of this movie and was recommended it by
our building’s concierge. As a result I didn’t know what to expect but I was pleasantly
surprised when the excellent cast popped up on screen. Each time a new
character came on screen I was thinking “ooh its Hoffman, ooh it’s Hawke. Ooh Albert
Finney’s in this. And Rosemary Harris. Ahh, Marisa Tomei (with her contractual
topless scenes). Cool, Amy Ryan. Ah, nice one it’s Michael Shannon”. The cast
is excellent. The film however isn’t.
