Before the Devil Knows You're Dead

"No one was supposed to get hurt."

2007 1h 57m EN

👍

7.1

SOLID

🍅

89%

FRESH

💯

METACRITIC

⭐

7.3

IMDB

★7.1TMDB · 1,819🍅89%Rotten Tomatoes●86Metacritic★7.3IMDB · 119,477

CrimeDramaThriller

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

When two brothers organize the robbery of their parents' jewelry store, the job goes horribly wrong, triggering a series of events that send them and their family hurtling towards a shattering climax.

“No one was supposed to get hurt.”

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Cast

Philip Seymour Hoffman
Andy Hanson
Ethan Hawke
Hank Hanson
Albert Finney
Charles Hanson
Marisa Tomei
Gina Hanson
Aleksa Palladino
Chris Lasorda
Michael Shannon
Dex
Amy Ryan
Martha Hanson
Sarah Livingston
Danielle

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Sidney Lumet
Writers: Kelly Masterson
Languages: English
Countries: United States of America, United Kingdom

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Released 19 years ago.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

International production across 2 countries: United States of America, United Kingdom.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

CAST

Did you know

202+ people credited in cast and crew — a small city's worth of labour.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Sidney Lumet, shot by Ron Fortunato. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Carter Burwell. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Tom Swartwout shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Philip Seymour Hoffman and Ethan Hawke and Albert Finney carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "No one was supposed to get hurt.".

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Sidney Lumet directs. Ron Fortunato behind the camera. Carter Burwell scores. Tom Swartwout cuts. Profitable at the box office. Produced in United States of America, United Kingdom. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Released 19 years ago.
2International production across 2 countries: United States of America, United Kingdom.
3202+ people credited in cast and crew — a small city's worth of labour.
4Directed by Sidney Lumet, shot by Ron Fortunato. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
5Original score by Carter Burwell. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
6Editor Tom Swartwout shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
7Philip Seymour Hoffman and Ethan Hawke and Albert Finney carry the top of the cast.
8Marketing tagline: "No one was supposed to get hurt.".
9IMDB entry: tt0292963 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
10Classified under 19 themes, including "daughter", "career", "sibling relationship", "office".
11Released under 11 different titles around the world.

The technical file

Cinematography: Ron Fortunato
Original score: Carter Burwell
Editing: Tom Swartwout
Production design: Christopher Nowak
Costume design: Tina Nigro
Makeup / hair: Diana Sikes
Sound: Dave Paterson
Stunt coordinator: Chris Cenatiempo
Runtime: 117 min · 1h 57m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $18,000,000
Box office: $25,005,257
Return: 139% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): R
IMDB: Before the Devil Knows You're Dead (2007)
Rotten Tomatoes: 89% 🍅 Fresh
Metacritic: 86/100
IMDB rating: 7.3/10 · 119,477 votes
MPAA: R

Awards

17 wins & 28 nominations total

Nastro d'Argento for Best Non-European Foreign Film

Individual records documented via Wikidata; the summary above may count more.

Also by

Sidney Lumet

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Selected frames

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Wallpaper

Trailers & featurettes

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Community reviews

What people are saying

John Chard2019-01-20
★ 9/10
The world is an evil place Charlie. Some of us make money off that and others get destroyed. Before the Devil Knows You're Dead is directed by Sidney Lumet and written by Kelly Masterson. It stars Philip Seymour Hoffman, Ethan Hawke, Marisa Tomei, Albert Finney, Rosemary Harris and Amy Ryan. Music is scored by Carter Burwell and cinematography by Ron Fortunato. Two brothers with differing financial problems plan to rob their parents' jewellery store. But when all does not go to plan and tragedy strikes, it sends them, and those close to them, into a world of fear, shame and violence... It opens with a raunchy sex scene, man and wife in the throes of committed passion, for these brief moments there is pleasure. Once over, though, it proves to be a false dawn, the last time anyone on screen will taste pleasure in Lumet's biting morality tale. From here on in the film unfolds in a dizzying array of multi-perspectives and over lapping of narrative structure, a three pronged assault on the senses as a family implodes in a haze of greed, lies and inadequacies. A botched robbery underpins the plotting, the aftermath of which is what is most cutting, we zip around learning the wherewithal and whys of the key players, learning exactly what we need to know to fully immerse in this bleak world. This is a world populated by love cheats, drug abuse, embezzling, bad parenting and blackmail, a world where the brothers Hanson (Hoffman & Hawke) now dwell, either ill equipped (Hawke's Hank) or stuck between idiocy and smug evil (Hoffman's Andy). Their folly, their greed, impacting with a juddering severity on the family circle. My life, it doesn't add up. Nothing connects to anything else. I'm not the sum of my parts. All my parts don't add up to one...me. It would be Lumet's last film (he passed away in 2011), thankfully it is a fitting final offering from the talented Philadelphian. He's aided considerably, mind, by a razor sharp script from debut screenplay writer Masterton. It's full of nastiness and tension, but still observational as a family tragedy, with major bonus' being that it never resorts to stereotypes or cops out come the crushing denouement. Where Lumet excels is in drawing near faultless performances from his cast. Youthful and downtrodden haplessness portrayed by Hawke, Hoffman's powerhouse manipulator with emotional issues, Tomei proving that over 40 is still sexy while dialling into a very touching performance. Finney, a cracker-jack of grief from the wily old fox, Ryan's hard edged ex-wife and Michael Shannon strolling into the picture late in the day exuding notable menace. All splendidly guided by the great director who asks them to portray characters convincing in going deeper for motivations and means. Bleak, brutal and near brilliant across the board. 9/10
CinemaSerf2024-02-03
★ 7/10
The outwardly successful "Andy" (Philip Seymour Hoffman) needs to raise some cash before his business gets an IRS audit. His weaker brother "Hank" (Ethan Hawke) needs cash to settle some childcare costs with his divorced wife. The two concoct a plan to rob their parents' jewellery store to solve both of their problems whilst, they hope, harming nobody but the insurers. A staffing alteration changes all of that, though, and as it turns out, mom is no pushover so the raid goes quite spectacularly wrong leaving her and one of the robbers in the ground. "Hank" is emotionally struggling, "Andy" still faces his problems and now they have their father (Albert Finney) determined to track down just who these attackers are! Now, to add to this already quite toxic mix, we discover that "Hank" has also been having an affair rather too close to home for his sibling and so the tension is soon building to a point where something is going to have to give - and lethally too. Finney features sparingly here, but he does steal the show as the Hoffman/Hawke dynamic builds to an effective and powerful conclusion that does rather powerfully portray just how family's are not always sweetness and light. It's a solid story well cast and written, with Sidney Lumet letting his talent do the heavy lifting with minimal interference from him or from any extended dialogue. I did like the ending, too!