| Director | Sidney Lumet |
|---|---|
| Budget | $18 million |
| Box office | $25 million |
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 he has been embezzling money from his employer, payroll manager Andy Hanson decides to flee to Brazil. To raise the funds he needs, he enlists the aid of his brother, Hank, a divorced father who desperately needs money to pay child support.
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 have Hank rob their parents' jewelry store, describing it as a victimless crime because the store is insured. He says that he cannot go himself because he has been seen in the neighborhood recently, but that Doris, an elderly employee, will be alone in the store and that only a toy gun will be needed. Hank reluctantly agrees to the plan. Andy intends to fence the jewelry through a New York City dealer their father knows.
Without consulting Andy, Hank hires Bobby, an acquaintance who is an experienced thief, to help him. Before the robbery, Bobby reveals that he has a real gun and insists on entering the store 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. Hank flees the scene. Nanette dies a few days later in the hospital. Unsatisfied with the police investigation, her husband, Charles, becomes obsessed with finding information about the crime.
Meanwhile, 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.
As well, 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 an emotional exchange. Charles tells Andy he loves him, but Andy says he has always felt like an outsider in the family. At home, Andy’s wife, Gina, 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 that she has been having an affair with Hank; he gives her money before she leaves.
Charles learns about Andy’s visit to the fence and immediately goes looking for him. He follows Andy from his apartment tower, watches as he goes to Hank's apartment, and then tails his sons as they leave together.
Andy decides to resolve Hank's blackmail situation by robbing a heroin dealer he frequents, after which he plans to leave the country. At the dealer's apartment, Andy and Hank overpower and rob him. Hank is shocked when Andy shoots the dealer and a client who happens to be there. The brothers then meet Dex to pay him off, but Andy impulsively shoots him, too. Andy appears ready to kill Chris, but Hank objects as Chris's baby is heard crying in another room. Andy turns the gun on Hank, revealing that he knows about his affair with Gina. Hank begs Andy to kill him, but Chris then shoots Andy in the back with Dex's gun. Horrified, she screams at Hank to get out, and he does so after guiltily leaving some of the money behind for her.
Charles sees Hank fleeing the apartment and calls out to him, but Hank does not hear him and continues running. Andy is taken to the hospital, and Charles follows him there. Andy apologizes to his father, saying that he did not mean to hurt Nanette, who was not supposed to be in the store. Charles appears to accept Andy’s apology, but then suffocates his son to death with a pillow. As medical staff rush to help Andy, Charles walks away.