Plot
Note: The story is explained here in its chronological order, rather than as it is presented in the film.
Facing an upcoming audit that will reveal his embezzlement, finance executive Andy Hanson decides to escape to Brazil. To raise the necessary funds, he enlists the aid of his brother, Hank, a divorced father who needs money to pay child support and tuition. Hank has been having an affair with Andy's wife, Gina.
Hank is well-meaning but easily dominated by Andy, a ruthless schemer. Andy, in turn, resents his younger and more attractive brother, whom their parents favored. Andy plans to rob their parents' jewelry store, to which Hank reluctantly agrees. Andy argues that he cannot go himself because he has been seen in the neighborhood recently. They assume that only Doris, an elderly employee, will be there, necessitating only a toy gun, and ensuring that insurance will make it a victimless crime. Andy plans to fence the jewelry via a New York City dealer his father knows, and expects to net about $120,000 from the robbery.
Without consulting Andy, Hank hires Bobby Lasorda, an acquaintance who is an experienced thief, to help him. Bobby reveals a real gun and commits the robbery himself while Hank waits in the car. The brothers' mother Nanette happens to be filling in for Doris, and while Bobby is distracted, Nanette grabs a hidden pistol and shoots him; he shoots her back, mortally wounding her, before she kills him with a second shot. She dies a week later in the hospital. Unsatisfied with the police investigation, her husband Charles becomes obsessed with finding information about the crime. Shortly after the botched robbery, Bobby's brother-in-law Dex confronts Hank and demands financial compensation for Bobby's widow, Chris, threatening to either turn him over to the police or kill him if he does not come up with the money.
While Andy is away from his office, his superiors repeatedly try to contact him regarding irregularities revealed by the audit. At Nanette's wake, Andy and Charles have a complex and emotional exchange. Charles states he loves Andy despite their long-standing differences. Andy, who feels like an outsider, questions his biological heritage, and Charles slaps him. Andy and Gina immediately leave. On their drive home, Andy has an emotional breakdown over his relationship with his father. At home, Gina tells Andy his boss has been trying to contact him. She expresses her frustration with their marriage and Andy's growing coldness. Andy, preoccupied with his problems, hardly reacts when Gina announces she is leaving him or even when she reveals her affair with Hank, and instead he gives her money for her departure when she asks for some.
Charles, searching for information about the robbery, visits the same fence Andy contacted. After an acrimonious exchange indicating a longstanding, mutual dislike, the jeweler reveals that Andy recently came looking to fence some jewels. Charles immediately goes looking for Andy. Andy decides to resolve Hank's blackmail situation by robbing a heroin dealer whom he frequents and then escaping abroad.
At the dealer's apartment, Andy and Hank overpower and rob the dealer. Hank is shocked when Andy kills the dealer and a client who happened to be present. The brothers meet Dex to pay him off, but Andy impulsively kills him to prevent continued blackmail. Andy appears ready to kill Chris, but Hank objects after hearing Chris' baby crying in another room. Andy turns the gun on Hank, revealing that he knows about Hank and Gina's relationship. Hank begs Andy to kill him. As Andy pauses, Chris shoots Andy in the back with Dex's gun. Horrified, she orders Hank to leave, and he guiltily leaves some of the money behind for her before fleeing.
After leaving the fence, Charles tails Andy. He follows Andy from his apartment tower, watches as he goes to Hank's apartment, then follows his sons to their meeting with Chris; Charles sees Hank fleeing the apartment and calls out to him, but Hank continues running, and escapes. He finally follows Andy to the hospital, where he is taken by paramedics. Andy breaks down and apologizes to his estranged father. Charles appears to accept his apology. Charles attaches Andy's heart monitor to himself and suffocates his son to death with a pillow. As medical staff rush to help Andy, Charles walks away.
Production
After experimenting with the format of high definition video on the television series 100 Centre Street, Lumet made the decision to shoot Before the Devil Knows You're Dead on the Panavision Genesis digital camera system. At a press conference at the 2007 New York Film Festival, Lumet called shooting on film "a pain in the ass," and predicted that as soon as distributors and exhibitors could agree on a digital projection format, photographic film would be rendered obsolete. [6]
The primary robbery scene was filmed at the Bay Terrace Shopping Center in Bayside, Queens, New York. [7]
Sidney Lumet knew Philip Seymour Hoffman was going to have more difficulty with the opening sex scene than Marisa Tomei. "I don't think Philip has ever conceived of himself in the nude fucking onscreen. It's just not something that comes his way. So when we started blocking, Marisa hopped up on the bed, got on her hands and knees, slapped her ass and said, 'Come on Philly, let's go!' I could kiss her. Because if Philip had any inhibitions, they were gone," Lumet said. [8]
