User reviews

It's a pretty decent drama movie. It's not a thriller. I believe more people would like it if they knew its a drama movie and nothing thrilling about it.

Premise: The Devil You Know, a crime drama revolving around a black family. Marcus, who has just come out of prison is trying to make his life again with a new job and his family's support. One day, when he hears about a recent crime in news, that could lead to his brother, he chooses to protect him. What he does and how that affects him and his family is the rest of the film's story.

Cinematic Analysis: Calling it a crime thriller might be misleading as there aren't any thrills involved here. The story is mostly focused on family dynamics, the ups and downs, and their daily lives. Heavy on conversations, the film tries to explore the impact a crime can have on people around us, especially our loved ones. It tries to bring us the inner conflicts and emotions they feel when something like this happens.

The film is around 2 hrs long and the screenplay is extremely elongated. Instead of spending so much time on family get-togethers, if the makers would have invested some time to explain the backstory of our lead character, it surely would have helped a lot to connect with him on an emotional level and for a better understanding of the choices he made. The film focuses on things that are less important and never touches on the impactful aspects.

The ending is surprising, never expected it to end this way. Performances are good but character development did have some scope to improve. On technical levels like cinematography, score etc., the film does a fine job.

Conclusion: In finality, The Devil You Know had a potential and impactful plot but the screenplay couldn't bring out our emotions or make us care for any of the characters. It lacks a tighter script and proper execution.

Rating: 5/10

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This movie was very boring with hardly any action and basically a flat plot. The climax was not even a bit exciting. I expected more from this cast. It's definitely not box office quality and should've went straight to BET or Netflix. I do not recommend waste your money watching this at the movie theater.

Bad guy tries to go legit and be good but naturally his dark past won't let him. Has this not been done a million and one times? And, was not every other one of them done better? This movie is slow and boring. I had more excitement on a sunny day as a boy frying ants on the sidewalk with a magnifying glass. The acting...what happened to Omar? None of the actors were credible. If you've been longing to paint the house, it would be preferable to watching this.

I saw this offered on Starz and since I had heard zilch about it, I assumed it would be a B movie.. but wuth Omar Epps, I'd take the risk (despite HATING that Netflix movie with him & Nia Long).

As the movie begins and I continue to see names and faces of actors that I love, I relax a bit and ride the ride.

Beautiful family portrayed!! Real life situations. I did not find myself being mad at anyone for being "stupid" or behaving unrealistic. I disagreed, but it was very believable.

The acting was superb! I was also (pleasantly) surprised to see my girl Keisha from Total, Who is now Mrs Keisha Epps for the last 20 years or so. Seeing how they (she & Omar) didn't react to each other in relationships with other folks in the movie was great. She also, independently, did a good job in her supporting role. She was a good wife, friend, daughter (-in-law) and sister-in-law and I believed it.

I do understand why some reviews are low and others are high. I'm somewhere in the middle. I was definitely effected by the drama and ky emotions responded accordingly. However, there was "something" missing. I can't put my hand on it.

The movie is roughly 90 min so I would 100% say give it a go if you're interested. It will not feel like you wasted your time and you might even thoroughly enjoy it.

I'll keep it short. This is a family drama where an extremely close-knit family bonds together to pay for each others sins, while having to balance their morality with their loyalty to each other. The acting from all of the main characters was top-notch. The story was well constructed. I think a lot of people will be displeased by some of the choices of the characters and racial innuendos of the movie, but I felt like I could really relate to this family. You may also find the little news/radio segments throughout the movie to be jarring in just how BAD the acting from the newscasters/announcers are, especially in contrast with just how good the acting is in the rest of the movie.

But it was stiff, slow and melodramatic.

The characters were cardboard cutouts, flat and one-dimensional. The chemistry and connection between the actors was poor.

Weak, drawn-out story line ...

All to familiar storyline... love all the actors and some of the best male actors today. Each actor played there role to the fullest. It should have been called brothers my only complaint is that one male actor had no tears when he attempted to be crying. But never thought the dinner table scene would go that way. Loved it.

Didnt expect much based on reviews, however it is actually a great movie and acting. The story line is catching, even though there is a ton of movies just like this, however it catches ones attention. Definitely a movie worth watching.

Just read the plot and move on, lads. Trust me, it's THAT generic! But go ahead if you have nothing else to do and consider spending time badly, when you could be counting blades of grass at the graveyard.

My daughter and I watched the movie and it was really good. I loved the turns and twist to the movie line. The only part I hated was the ending. I really thought it should and could have been better. The beginning was really good and I loved how it keep certain parts out and fed into when they did.

I had no dream it was going to be that way. You have to listen and pay attention to what's going on. A great movie and it keeps you in suspense until the end. I will recommend to others but would tell them to keep an open mind. This could be anyone's family and everyone will be in shock because of the togetherness.

I have never turned a movie off until now. Just a bunch of mumbling, whispering, and we can barely hear what they are saying. We keep turning the volume up and then they whisper more. It was super slow and the acting was generic. Very low budget. Omar Epps shouldn't even list this on his IMBD. I wouldn't claim this one at all. Horrible acting as a whole.

*These reviews higher than a 5 must be those in the movie or related to those in the movie.

Should have been a gripping family drama full of the tension of redemption vs old demons and truth despite family loyalties. Instead the film has Epps plod along with his family in a mundane tale of thug life.

The storyline isn't much of a mystery, and yeah the old "guy gets out of jail and tries to do good" archetype is played out. But this movie draws out emotion and feeling, partially because the acting is pretty decent for a B movie and partially because the writing isn't half bad either. It's a solid 6 and worth a watch.

I honestly went into this not expecting much but it was a pleasant surprise. Heart warming, tragic, emotional and realistic. A story about a man whose just trying to get his life together while battling serious family issues (I won't say anything specific to avoid spoiling it). The trials of humanity, right and wrong vs family.

Seen it before. A low budget redux of New Jack City. Well acted by some really good male actors. This happened to someone's family. Guess they decided to get some money out of this tragic tale of four brothers. Confirms my theory that brothers are never alike.

I gave it 5 stars because I appreciate the family's close knit inner relationships and that the protagonist (Epps) was cast opposite a dark skinned black woman as his love interest, a rarity. This film could have been so much better if someone other than Michael Ealy, who appears sleepy and bored throughout the film, had been cast as the detective, and the role was realistically portrayed. It was the most lazy and sloppy detective "work" I have ever seen on film. There were so many avenues and opportunities to catch the antagonist, but Ealy's character wasn't interested in doing any work. His character's lack of motivation and commitment to solving the murders was the weak link in the film.

Ok the film was good to spend time. No tansion, no fluent but somethings pull you into the movie. Family members who says "i love you", "baby" eachother... I mean i wanna know that really black families say each other like that nice words continious? I am a Turkish and we don't say these nice words each other. My father never said that nice words to me and my big brother. Or all of that because this is just a film? By the way movie was so slow, boring... I love black people's movie, it is fun to watch. But this was so boring. But i couldn't shut it. Just skipe some parts. That's all. You can watch this film with your family.

This was a good movie , the story was solid the acting was solid and it was really relatable.. I feel the ending could have been better but this movie is a solid 7 .. anything less is either Hate or you just dont understand or relate to these situations.

Omar epps does a great job once again. He's had a nice resurgence lately especially in this movie and power book 3: raising kanan .. the plot twist that plays out throughout the movie was done very well and clever .

It also shows a side of family often not seen in black cinema of when your family asks you to take accountability instead of bailing you out of heavy situations .

This movie is filled with surprises. Why the ratings are so low through IMDB? I have no clue! But if you want to watch a story where a close knit families love and loyalty is tested- it's worth watching!