Directed by:
Andrew DominikScreenplay:
Andrew DominikCinematography:
Greig FraserCast:
Brad Pitt, Scoot McNairy, Ben Mendelsohn, Ray Liotta, Richard Jenkins, James Gandolfini, Vincent Curatola, Garret Dillahunt, Sam Shepard, Glen Warner (more)VOD (3)
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Jackie Cogan (Brad Pitt) is an enforcer for the Mob. When a high-stakes Mob protected card game is heisted by some small time crooks Cogan is called in to track them down and restore order to the local criminal economy. Killing Them Softly also features a classic cast of misfits Richard Jenkins, James Gandolfini, Ray Liotta, Scoot McNairy, Ben Mendelsohn, Vincent Curatola, Max Casella, Trevor Long, Slaine and Sam Shepard. (The Weinstein Company)
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Reviews (8)
This gangster flick with a stellar cast tries for a high degree of originality, but its characters (except for Brad) are goofballs who neither inspire respect nor are humorously cool. And the dialogue is dull and unfocused (except for Brad’s last line). The most interesting thing about the film is the underscoring of the story about a gang of petty criminals with lines from televised speeches by George W. Bush and Barrack Obama about how great America is and will be. The visual gags and slow motion give the film the mark of exclusivity, but they’re nothing new and, frankly, they are better suited to The Avengers. A camera mounted on a car door, mirroring its opening and closing motion, had already been done by Tarantino (and God knows where he stole it from). The playful shifts in the narrative are pleasing, but in retrospect they seem gratuitous (Gandolfini’s character and his importance in the story), and in the climax they still lead to the resolution that we assume just from looking at the film’s poster.
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Great, great, great! I can’t remember the last time I watched a movie and was 100% enthralled by it, and almost immediately watched it again. A stylistically simple script, a lot of talking (but not too much), a gritty atmosphere, a number of absolutely stunning looking scenes (the fact that most of them are pretty bloody murders doesn't change that this time), Brad Pitt being frightening, unpredictable characters, music (Killing Them Softly doesn't have a classic soundtrack, we only hear songs from the radio) and above all the whole idea of showing the current economic situation of the USA through criminals. The mood of the film reminded me more of something by Jim Jarmusch than the Coen brothers. Andrew Dominik just continues to make me happy. Killing Them Softly gave me in spades what I didn't get from the perfectly awful Drive the other day.
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Rebellious to the core, incredibly polished, skillfully directed, with a mature script. The story may be trivial, but the political subtext is harsh and uncompromising, just like the brawls and wide-open violence. After a long time, a gangster film with guts, which knows what it wants to say and literally screams it to the world.
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A solid gangster movie. It’s not boring, but I can’t say it’s anything extraordinary. I didn’t get to know enough about any of the characters to really care for them, and it seems that a character that is introduced at the beginning doesn’t appear until the end just to kill someone. Given that in the end they stick a couple of minutes with some sort of message, my complaint could be disregarded by the fact that it’s clearly intentional. But come on! For me, nothing to write home about, no matter how I look at it. Points for the slow-motion shootout in the rain and the scene with the stoned dialogue. Otherwise, the most interesting thing about this film are the elegant posters.
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Modern-day realism in an old-school blazer. Dominik changes the rules of storytelling, while also balancing the human and political angles. Bush and Obama are depicted often as ridiculous figures thanks to their speeches about unity and faith in the stars and stripes in this game dominated by Pitt’s Cogan. The actors are perfect, the message short and sharp. Everything stands on the last few lines. America is not a country, it’s a business. Now fucking pay me.
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