Killing Them Softly (2012)

After reading a lot of the reviews here I decided to write my own.

I noticed a lot of people fall over the fact that this is a slow paced movie. Well let me explain something: Back in the days most movies were as fast as this. Nowadays we want fast editing and slick shots because of music video's and commercials where the producers need to put a lot of information in a short amount of time. So in my opinion you are an spoiled lazy brat that doesn't want to pay attention, you just want to be entertained without thinking.

And just because you can't pay attention that doesn't mean this film doesn't have any story. The story is complicated and wants to show you a message. A lot of other 'big time Hollywood crap' don't show messages anymore, they just want to make a lot of money.

Well I want to explain a lot of things about the movie but as you are a lazy spoiled brat you must also be ignorant and stubborn.

Fmovies: Based on the 1974 novel Cogan's Trade by George V. Higgins, Andrew Dominik's 'Killing Them Softly' is Brutal! A Hard-Hitting Neo-Noir Crime Film, that speaks its own language without any inhibitions whatsoever! The narrative is difficult to stomach, but the overall impact, is stunning.

'Killing Them Softly' Synopsis: Jackie Cogan is an enforcer hired to restore order after three dumb guys rob a Mob protected card game, causing the local criminal economy to collapse.

'Killing Them Softly' deals with brutality & freedom of speech. Its about the inner demons & the monsters that give them that "push" to come out fiercely. Dominik's Adapted Screenplay is hardcore. It narrates an unforgiving, unforgettable story, about people, whom we can relate to, but not sympathize particularly. Dominik's Direction, on the other-hand, is raw & rustic. Cinematography & Editing deserve a special mention.

Performance-Wise: Brad Pitt steals the show. After 'Moneyball', this is a yet another knockout performance by the Screen Icon. Ray Liotta hasn't been this good in a really long time. Richard Jenkins is excellent. James Gandolfini is mesmerizing in a brief, but significant role. Scoot McNairy & Ben Mendelsohn are fabulous. Sam Shepard shines.

On the whole, 'Killing Them Softly' is a wonder of a film. Two Thumbs Up!

Brad Pitt and Andrew Dominik's fantastic Killing Them Softly has the rigor and grace of the great American crime pictures of the 1970s. A loose adaptation of George V Higgins' great 1974 crime novel Cogan's Trade. A fulfilling elegant and stylish black comedy. The script, acting, direction were all superbly done, and should be commended. Although the film can be very pessimistic, it does have a message, one that should resonate in the near future. The whole cast was extremely effective and highly believable. However Brad Pitt is simply terrific, and deserves much acclaim that could come to him. Just like The Assassination of Jesse James, Pitt plays subtle, but yet powerful sociopath and it ripples the film throughout. James Gandolfini Gandolfini is excellent as a boozy, broken old assassin. Ray Liotta offers a grotesque reprise of the type of manic gangster he played in his younger years in Goodfellas. Richard Jenkins is solemn as ever as the killer's contact, relaying back messages from the Mob and trying to beat Cogan down on prices. All the men here are relentlessly sexist and foul-mouthed.

Dominik shoots the action in a grimy shallow focus and his screenplay is tough as steel and shot through with pessimistic, even black humor. There is no mistaking the fact that Dominik loves his characters, letting their dialogue shine uninterrupted. Although the The political message is a little heavy-handed and a bit repetitive, Andrew Domink crafts a memorable and highly thought-provoking crime film, with Brad Pitt shows the world again, that he's a fantastic actor that always surpasses the hype around him.

Killing Them Softly fmovies. The idea of film being used as a medium for political themes and socio-economic commentary is nothing new, even recently with films such as Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps and Margin Call aiming to tackle the 2008 financial crisis. But few films have been as unsubtle as Killing Them Softly. Set to the backdrop of the 2008 election, the criminal underworld of an American city has been hit by its own financial crisis after a mob poker game is robbed by two criminals (Scoot McNairy and Ben Mendelsohn). With no trades or money being moved, a mob manager (Richard Jenkins) brings in a fixer, Jackie Cogan (Brad Pitt), to solve the situation. But none of his actions brings back confidence, whether right or wrong. Writer/director Andrew Dominik admirably uses a gangster story as a metaphor for the financial crisis, but the handling was atrocious. Dominik has no faith in his audience to draw these connections, and even worse, come away with its own conclusions; he opts to spoon-feed us the cliff notes as we watch. This is most evident with the constant use of speeches by George W. Bush and Barack Obama made at time, enforcing the parallels Dominik wanted to make. There are constant references to terminology used at the time, particularly the theme of bringing back confidence to the world, the theme that public perspective is more important than actual actions and we are reminded that the gangster world's situation is the same as the financial world's one. This forceful approach does not allow us to see a natural story. Killing Them Softly is a very dialogue-driven film that breaks the old cinematic maxim of "show, don't tell." We are told that the mob has turned corporate and that there is a crisis, but we do not get to see it. It would have been more interesting to see mob bosses arguing and coming up with theories and seeing that gangsters were unwilling to make any deals in the midst of the crisis. Killing Them Softly ends up rather dull as a result. There are some moments that show what Dominik is capable of: the robbery scene was filled with tension and things felt like they would actually kick off. Whenever violence was used in general, it was incredibly grim and brutal. There is a highly stylised moment when Cogan commits his first assassination, completely played out in slow motion — a brilliant little sequence. The film hits hardest in these scenes. The big saving grace of Killing Them Softly is the acting. There is a great cast with Pitt, Jenkins and James Gandolfini being the biggest draws. They were committed actors doing the best they could, elevating the dry material provided with excellent delivery and chemistry. Pitt and McNairy played the most likable (and I use that term loosely) characters, and were the most well-drawn and conflicted characters in the film. McNairy was the most human, reacting naturally to his situation, and Pitt is able to be cold-hearted and professional when he acts upon his deadly task. Killing Them Softly is a film that feels its political parallels are enough of a mask for it to be seen as an intelligential masterpiece, but it feels too demeaning to have everything spelled out like that, which was made worse given the story played second fiddle to these political parallels. There was potential for a great film if there was a good re-write, but it ends up being one of biggest disappointments of 2012.

If you are sick of generic clichéd action film making, you will enjoy this unique gem. An actors movie. The superb cast subtly weave a bleak and violent morality tale. Everyone is given beautiful little soliloquies. This drew me into each character, even though they are all without exception unpleasant, I still was able to empathize with them. It was like a modern Shakespeare with the regular TV news and political speechifying in the background as a running commentary on the stories progress. The editing was so good I never noticed it. Thank you to everyone who had a hand in this classic. It is a dark movie and I can imagine its subtle complexities being lost on the great unwashed and washed.

This is a film that looks outstanding. It has that feel of the best seventies cinema. The acting similarly is outstanding but still, a few things stop it from being the stone cold classic it could have been.

The cracks started to show when Cogan(Pitt) has his first talk with Mickey(Gandolfini). It's the latest in a long series of head to heads that play out more like acting master-classes than anything relating to the film. That scene effectively breaks the spell and reminds us that we are watching "good quality acting" combined with "a good script".

The film seems to go off the rails after this. Any charm or involvement is soon stopped by another showy scene from the director who seems more concerned with showing off his film making skills than actually making a good film.

The final thing that jars is Brad Pitt. He had the same effect on Fight Club. Pitt is too big a star for a film like this. He simply doesn't convince as the cynical cold blooded killer. Why would such a man spend that much time on his physical appearance for instance?. A more earthy, hard boiled actor could have made the character believable.

Not a bad film but overbearingly condescending at the finale (which I won't spoil here). The film that went before doesn't earn that pay off and its impact isn't felt on the screen. Which makes the end deeply unsatisfying.

Shame really as with more editing and less egos involved, this could have been so much better.