Killing Them Softly (2012)
“They cry, they plead, they beg, they piss themselves, they cry for their mothers. It gets embarrassing. I like to kill ‘em softly. From a distance.” – Jackie Cogan.
Killing Them Softly (2012)
Directed by: Andrew Dominik
Written by: Andrew Dominik
Starring: Brad Pitt, Ray Liotta, Richard Jenkins, James Gandolfini, Scoot McNairy, Ben Mendelsohn
The only reason I watched Killing Them Softly was because of the cast. Didn’t look at the plot, didn’t look at reviews, just chucked it on automatically after seeing the ridiculous acting lineup. Brad Pitt, Ray Liotta and James Gandolfini headlining a crime movie? Supported by Ben Mendelsohn, Scoot McNairy (the best name in acting) and Richard Jenkins? You can’t get much better than that. And…I was honestly a bit disappointed. It wasn’t a bad movie, and I didn’t regret watching it, but with that much talent I was expecting at least an 8/10.
The movie focuses on two idiots, Frankie (McNairy), and Russell (Mendelsohn), who are enlisted to rob a Mafia poker game run by Markie Trattman (Liotta). As Trattman is known to have robbed one of his own games ten years earlier, Frankie and Russell believe the job is low risk – the Mafia will simply assume Markie did it and kill him without investigating further. However, when a mafioso named Driver (Jenkins) hires hitman Jackie Cogan (Pitt) to ‘clean up’ the situation, things go from good, to bad, to worse for the thieves.
The acting – as expected – is sublime throughout. Pitt once again treads the fine line between dramatic and comical, Liotta proves that he can still carry a mob movie, and I’ve still never seen a bad Mendelsohn performance. Everyone is as good as advertised, it’s that simple.
The script and story (off no research) were both a pleasant surprise, and the movie clearly benefits from having the same writer/director in Dominik. It’s cohesive, it’s intelligent, it’s funny – honestly, it reminded me of a bad Cohen Brother’s movie (helped by the Jenkins and Pitt connection after they starred together in Burn After Reading). ‘A bad Cohen Brother’s movie’ might sound like an insult, but it’s really not – mixing dramatic and very serious consequences for main characters with a humorous script is what the Cohen’s do well, and Dominik has brought much of that same energy to Killing Them Softly. It’s not a super fast-paced movie, with extensive dialogue and not much action, but with a runtime of only 97 minutes you’ll never have enough time to get distracted or bored.
One thing that people seem to hate about this movie is the pervasive social commentary throughout. Set amidst the 2008 financial crisis, there are many sound bites throughout of the presidential race and Obama’s eventual victory. The reason for this imagery is summarised with Jackie Cogan’s final line in the movie, where he says, “This guy wants to tell me we’re living in a community. Don’t make me laugh. I’m living in America, and in America, you’re on your own. America’s not a country. It’s just a business.” So…the movie is a very subversive metaphor on how corrupt capitalism is, and the fact that the financial crisis occurred due to a lack of regulation; the big players won, while the little guys got screwed. And I mean it when I say this metaphor is ‘very subversive’ – I didn’t really think about this at all, as I was too busy enjoying the story and acting. I mean, sure, there are probably film study classes somewhere dissecting the economic messaging throughout this, but it’s not really that noticeable.
All-in-all, Killing Them Softly is an entertaining little crime package by Andrew Dominik. Acting talent is world class, and the story is good fun. It’s not Goodfellas or The Departed, but I still recommend this to anyone who likes a dramatic crime film. Also, it has Brad Pitt in it, and he’s the man. So you should definitely watch it.
Rating: 7/10
Brad Pitt recruitment
Andrew Dominik actually recruited Pitt via text message and asked if he was interested in the role. Brad simply texted back ‘yes’ and his place in the movie was settled within half an hour