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Before The Devil Knows You're Dead provides examples of the following tropes:

• A Tragedy of Impulsiveness: Man, if Hank had only stuck to the plan...
  • He'd have been shot by his own mother.
• A Simple Plan
• Downer Ending: Andy and Hank's mother is dead, Andy murders three people, Charles smothers Andy to death with a pillow, and everybody who's still alive is facing a bleak, meaningless existence for the rest of their lives.
  • Further, it's pointed out in the commentary that Hank has the money, but will probably blow it all on drink.
• Fake American: Brit Albert Finney plays Hank and Andy's father.
• Idiosyncratic Wipes
• IKEA Erotica: The opening sex scene is played with such passionless blandness that it's almost painful. Arguably a case of Tropes Are Not Bad, though, as it's utilized to offer a window into Andy's psyche rather than simply being boring.
• Plethora Of Mistakes
• R-Rated Opening: The opening shot is a sex scene between Marisa Tomei and Philip Seymour Hoffman.
• Shout Out: "Did you touch anything?" "I don't think so." "You don't THINK SO?" very closely echoes a similar conversation in Lumet's Family Business.
• Sliding Scale of Idealism Versus Cynicism: It's about as far from idealism as you can get and still be considered realist.
• Tragedy: The happiest it ever gets is when Hank and Andy first hatch the scheme to rob their parents' jewelry store.
• Tragic Mistake: In the overall scheme of things, the robbery, and within that, brining in Bobby Lasorda to do the actual robbery.
• Ugly Guy, Hot Wife: Andy and Gina. Strangely, she's the insecure one in need of his assurance that he loves her. And with good reason, as he's so pre-occupied with his problems that he's completely oblivious to how unhappy she is—and that she's having an affair with his brother.
• Villain Protagonist: Andy.