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NotPhil · 4540 days ago · link · · parent · post: Hubski Film Club - 12 Angry Men and Before the Devil Knows You're Dead...... thoughts?
If you watched "Before the Devil Knows You're Dead" on DVD and checked out the extras, you'll have noticed that both movies are something Lumet calls melodramas, a genre Lumet seems fond of.
Initially mundane circumstances suddenly run out of control and characters are pushed beyond their limits. Lumet seemed to be able to get actors to trust him enough that they would take the normal, naturalistic portrayals they've been trained to give, and go over the top, believing Lumet when he told them the material required it. This sort of thing is most obvious in my favorite Lumet film, "Network," where he gets Peter Finch and Faye Dunaway to go way over the top, to great effect.