Before the Devil Knows You're Dead

(USA, 2007, 117 minutes)

A real estate accountant deeply in debt convinces his equally downbeat brother to rob their parents' suburban jewellery store, but the heist is botched and brings a whole new set of problems. Dark family melodrama under the guise of a thriller, notable for its uniformly excellent performances, attentive handling and fragmented time signature rather than for its cookie-cutter script.

An Entertainment Film Distributors release. Capitol Films and Funky Buddha Group present a Unity Productions/Linsefilm production. Starring Philip Seymour Hoffman, Ethan Hawke, Marisa Tomei; and Albert Finney; also starring Michael Shannon, Amy Ryan, Brían F. O'Byrne, Rosemary Harris. Directed by Sidney Lumet; produced by Michael Cerenzie, Brian Linse, Paul Parmar, William S. Gilmore; written by Kelly Masterson; music by Carter Burwell; director of photography (Technicolor), Ron Fortunato; production designer, Christopher Nowak; costume designer, Tina Nigro; film editor, Tom Swartwout.